In Syria, an alliance backed by the USA is fighting to dislodge IS north of the jihadist group’s bastion in Raqa city.
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Pentagon spokesman Peter Cook said Thursday that “our special operations forces in the past have, yes, worn insignias and other identifying marks with their partner forces”.
“They’re exhibiting their initiative, their innovativeness, their skills [and] their expertise to really make a difference here”, he was quoted as saying by the U.S. Defence Department.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said it was “unacceptable” that US special forces would be wearing shoulder patches of the People’s Protection Units, a Kurdish group known as the YPG. Its most powerful component is the Kurdish YPG militia.
“Number one, of course, with air power”.
But despite the death and destruction Islamic State is leaving in its wake, an examination of recent developments on both the Iraqi and Syrian fronts demonstrates how dire the organization’s state has become, as an Iraqi-Iranian alliance is closing in on it from the east while Kurdish and American forces are advancing from the north.
“I would only say that we acknowledged several weeks ago that Special Operations Forces would be present in northern Syria in the capacity of the advise-and-assist role that we have clearly laid out that they’re playing on the battlefield in coordination with the SDF”, he said. It’s important to note we don’t have forces up front in the lines there.
“We are in their off centers and headquarters providing advice”, he added, and not “exchanging fire” with ISIS. “And finally we are providing some equipment, particularly to the Syrian Arabs that are part of the Syrian Democratic Force”.
The SDF did not mention any plan to take the city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the “caliphate” proclaimed by IS in 2014. 47 automatic grenade launcher mounted to the back of a pickup truck, a weapon primarily used by USA forces.
The fliers showed a destroyed urban area in black-and-white with civilians running past dead Islamic State fighters toward a vibrant green countryside.
But in May, the IS takes Iraqi provincial capital Ramadi, and Syria’s famed ancient city of Palmyra, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Neither Washington nor its allies have indicated they are about to embark on a campaign to retake Raqqa or Mosul city, the other main stronghold of the militants, in Iraq.
And as The Washington Post reports, “at least seven well-armed Shiite militia groups” are among the loose coalition participating in the Fallujah offensive.
The SDF fighters have so far met little resistance, he said.
The Islamic State said in an online statement it had capturedseveral villages near Azaz.
Though the administration of Barack Obama has been hesitant with troop deployment into Syria, these AFP photos seem to show the soldiers taking an active part in the offensive in Syria where USA presence has been said to involve a majority of military advisers and not front-line combat troops.
“The challenges involved in weakening and dislodging the Islamic State from long-held fortified positions are enormous”, wrote the New York-based Soufan Group.
Aid groups like the Norwegian Refugee Council have raised concerns about civilians trapped inside Fallujah: “Thousands of civilian families are trapped in the fighting with no safe route out”. “All parties to this conflict have to provide safe exits for civilians”.
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On May 16, a Pentagon spokesman says the IS has lost about 45 percent of its territory in Iraq, and between 16-20 percent of land it seized in Syria.
