New York Times: US Commandos on the frontline in Raqqa

US commandos are working with Syrian fighters in an attempt to push closer to Daesh’s stronghold in Raqqa, the New York Times has reported in a piece written by Eric Schmitt.

The writer states that US special operation forces and the Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters they are advising pushed closer to Raqqa this week.

Defence department officials confirmed that photographs taken by an Agence-France Presse photographer in the village of Fatisah that were released on Thursday showed US commandos, dressed in camouflage, assisting fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces during their offensive against Daesh north of Raqqa.

The report also stated that the US has disclosed publicly that about 200 of its commandos and support personnel are on the ground in northern Syria, where they are working with the Syrian Arab and Kurdish partners. About 100 more are on the way.

According to Schmitt’s report, Pentagon officials said the Americans were not involved in any combat operations.

A Syrian militia commander told the photographer that the American troops had fired missiles from the rooftop of a house to destroy a booby-trapped car in the village, a characterization that Pentagon officials challenged.

“We have been conducting advise-and-assist operations with elements of the Syrian Democratic Forces for many weeks,” Col. Steve Warren, the chief military spokesman in Baghdad, said in an email to the author.

“Nothing has changed in our relationships or our distance from the front lines of combat,” said Warren.