More than 250 Special Forces stationed to the Syrian battlefield against the so-called Islamic State, they’ve been easy to spot on the front lines in Hasakah, Tisreen Dam, and near Raqqa, the capital of the “caliphate” that’s also called ISIS, ISIL, and Daesh.
In a base close to the town of Ayn al-Issa, U.S. soldiers are not only advising, they are also assisting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) very closely in targeting ISIS positions with mortars and laser guided air strikes.
Now photographs have surfaced of some of the American soldiers wearing the bright red, yellow, and green patches of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) that have proved some of the most committed and effective fighters on the ground against ISIS.
Still pictures and videos were published online showing U.S. soldiers involved in the Northern Raqqa operation that was launched last Tuesday, 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the city of Raqqa itself.
The U.S. insists that more and more Arabs are willing to join the YPG to enter Raqqa; that the Kurds will help reclaim Raqqa even as they have no interest in adding the city to its potential autonomous region; and that the Turks, who oppose a Kurdish state, will accept U.S. forces working so closely with the Kurdish forces.
The PYD leader acknowledged there is now more support for the Kurds than six months ago and after the visit of senior officials, like US special Envoy Brett McGurk, and CENTCOM’s Gen. Joseph Votel.
On the front lines near the village of Fatisah, a British foreign volunteer told The Daily Beast, that British special forces from the SAS were at the small base we were visiting. He did not want to talk on the record, however. In the background, airstrikes could be seen hitting ISIS targets.\
“The foreigners come to us from foreign countries and help us with the fight against the Islamic State,” said Heval Soresh, a YPG fighter. “It’s not secret or something confidential,” he said.
“British, Americans, French Special Forces are involved,” he added. “When we see foreign fighters and foreign volunteers help us to fight terrorists, this raises is our morale,” he added.
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