Marines land in Syria to defeat ISIS in its ‘capital’
155mm Howitzers deployed to target jihadists in Raqqa
Washington, March 9: The United States has sent a Marine Corps artillery battery into Syria to help defeat the Islamic State group in Raqqa, the capital of their supposed caliphate, a US official has said.
The official said troops from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit had deployed a battery of 155mm Howitzers to an outpost in Syria. The Marines “are ready to conduct their mission” to support the offensive on Raqa, the official said on Wednesday, confirming a report in the Washington Post.
The move marks a significant step for conventional US forces in Syria.
Currently, the United States has limited its ground troops to about 500 special operations fighters whose job has been to train and assist the SDF, a local ArabKurdish alliance fighting ISIS.
According to the Post, the artillery deployment had been in the works “for some time” and was not part of President Donald Trump’s demand for a new plan to increase the pace of the anti-ISIS war.
The artillery will allow the Marines to help support the SDF offensive, which has been gradually closing in on Raqa since last fall.
The Pentagon had said that it had also sent extra troops into Manbij to prevent competing factions fighting each other in the former ISIS stronghold.
US officials estimate there to be up to 4,000 jihadists in Raqa, a city of about 300,000 residents.
Confirming media reports, coalition spokesman US Air Force Colonel John Dorrian said the additional forces would be working with local partners in Syria — the SDF and the Syrian Arab Coalition — and would not have a frontline role. “We are talking about an additional 400 or so forces in total, and they will be there for a temporary period,” Dorrian said. The SDF is the main US partner in the war against ISIS.