Hundreds of US Marines armed with heavy artillery have arrived in Syria to help allied local forces in preparation for an offensive to recapture the city of Raqqah from Daesh terrorists, officials say.
Marines from the San Diego-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit have deployed a battery of 155mm Howitzers to an outpost in Syria and “are ready to conduct their mission,” a US official told AFP on Thursday.
The deployment marks a significant move for conventional US forces in Syria, which have been limited to about 500 Special Operations forces on the ground.
Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman of the coalition purportedly fighting Daesh, said the additional forces, comprising a total of 400 Marines and Army Rangers, would be working with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Coalition.
Dorrian told Reuters that the artillery battery would help “expedite the defeat” of Daesh in Raqqah.
“We have had what I would describe…