USA special forces deployed to Syria at Turkey’s request : Pentagon

Turkey launched its first major military incursion into Syria three weeks ago to try to push back Islamic State militants from its border and prevent Kurdish militia fighters from gaining ground in their wake. According to CNN, the joint effort has been labeled Operation Noble Lance, and is the first time the two forces have fought side by side on Syrian soil since the start of the conflict.

“Secretary Kerry expressed concerns about the repeated and unacceptable delays of humanitarian aid”, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Friday after Kerry and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke by phone.

Davis said the Americans are providing the same training, advice and other assistance that US forces have been providing to other Syrian opposition groups – such as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – fighting the Islamic State in northern Syria.

However, the five or six USA military personnel were then forced to withdraw towards the Turkish border after Syrian rebels protested against their presence in the town, the source said. The effort was backed by USA and coalition airstrikes but not by American ground forces. They are among 300 US troops authorized by President Barack Obama to provide training, advice and assistance inside Syria as part of the broader military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

A U.S. official had told CNN last month that Special Operations Forces had initially meant to accompany the original Turkish offensive but that the USA was still working on approving the proposal when Turkish units pushed across the border.

A video reportedly showing United States troops in Syria alongside Turkish army tanks in the northern town of Al Rai recently emerged online.

Ankara first proposed the idea of US special -operations forces accompanying Turkish troops late last month as it planned a joint mission into Syria’s northern city of Jarabulus.

Clashes between Turkish-allied forces and the Kurdish YPG militia, a key US partner in the fight against Islamic State, have caused tension between Washington and Ankara. The troops are expected to be inside Syria in coming days, USA officials said.

Clashes between the two groups took place at the start of the Turkish incursion into Syria, and the U.S. has since helped oversee an informal arrangement under which Turkish and Kurdish forces will operate on opposite sides of the Euphrates River.