Pentagon May Ask to Send Ground Troops to Syria

The U.S. defense department may ask to send ground troops to Syria for the first time, CNN reported.

“It’s possible that you may see conventional forces hit the ground in Syria for some period of time,” one defense official told CNN.

So far only U.S. special operations troops have been deployed to Syria, to provide training and assistance to local partners.

The decision is up to President Donald Trump, who has tasked his defense secretary with writing a proposal to counter the so-called Islamic State (ISIS) by the end of February.

The former U.S. administration never approved conventional ground troops in Syria because of the larger risk it involves.

Raqqa Is Not a Priority, Assad Says

Raqqa is not a priority target for Syrian government forces, said Syrian president Bashar al-Assad on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported.

The northeastern province is the de facto capital for ISIS, but Assad said Raqqa “is a symbol” and his goal is to retake “every inch” of Syrian territory.

“Everywhere is a priority, depending on the development of the battle,” he said. “For us it is all the same: Raqqa, Palmyra, Idlib – it’s all the same.”

An Arab-Kurdish alliance backed by the U.S.-led coalition is leading the attack on ISIS in Raqqa.

Civilians Killed by Turkish Offensive on Al-Bab, Monitor Says

Turkish bombing of al-Bab in northern Syria killed 24 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said on Thursday. The SOHR said 11 children were among the dead, following the bombing over the previous 24 hours, Agence France-Presse reported.

The Turkish military said only “terrorists” died in the operation, which was part of the Turkish offensive in Syria known as “Euphrates Shield.”

Al-Bab, located 20 miles (30km) south of Turkey’s border, is ISIS’s last stronghold in Aleppo province. Syrian rebels backed by Turkish military, including warplanes, have been fighting for control of the town in recent months, last week advancing in its western side.

Syrian government forces have also been advancing from the south of the city in an effort to consolidate government control of Aleppo province.

Turkish prime minister Binali Yildirim said on Tuesday that al-Bab had “largely been taken under control.”

RECOMMENDED READS:

• Al Jumhuriya: A Day of Silence
• Mangal Media: Between Wu-Tang, Fairuz and Borders: Syrian Rappers in Diaspora
• The Syrian Observer: Syrian Army Is Geo-Localized: Syrian Expert
• The London School of Economics and Political Science: ‘You Want Freedom? This Is Your Freedom’: Rape as a Tactic of the Assad Regime
• Reuters: Displaced People of Syria’s ‘Beehive’ Villages Dream of Return