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Top US military official makes secret visit to Syria

May 23, 2016 at 9:57 am

Head of the US Central Command and top military commander for Middle East, General Joseph Votel, made a secret visit to Syria on Saturday to look at efforts to tackle Daesh, Quds Press reported yesterday.

Votel flew into northern Syria and spent nearly 11 hours in the country. He met US military advisers working with Syrian Arab fighters, and conferred with leaders of the Syrian Democratic forces, an umbrella group of Kurdish and Arab fighters supported by the US.

Votel said that supporting and training local fighters was the right approach to deal with Daesh. “I left with increased confidence in their capabilities and our ability to support them,” he said in a statement, “I think that model is working and working well.”

Meanwhile, the Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter Daesh at the US Department of State, Brett McGurk, confirmed Votel’s visit.

On his Twitter, McGurk wrote: “commander GEN Votel was in #Syria preparing push to #Raqqa.”

Votel is the most senior American official to have visited Syria since 2014.

The US has around 200 military advisers in Syria who are training 25,000 Kurdish and 5,000 Arab fighters as part of American efforts in fighting Daesh.