The US will send special forces to Syria to help rebels fight ISIS

The White House has decided to send the first special forces soldiers to Syria, but the military personnel will not take part in hostilities. Their tasks include exclusively consultation and training of the Syrian opposition, which is fighting against jihadists from the Islamic State.

The White House insists that sending military advisers to Syria does not contradict the stated US policy towards this country, which allows for support from the rebels from the air, but precludes a full-fledged ground operation.

According to Barack Obama administration spokesman Josh Earnest, the United States will send “less than 50” special forces to northern Syria, into Kurdish-controlled territory.

“The President expects that they [Special Forces] can help strengthen our strategy to improve the position of local forces in the ground fight against the Islamic State in their country. This was a key element of the military component of our strategy,” Earnest said.

The US military will provide logistical assistance to Kurdish and Arab forces opposing the Islamic State. They will have to coordinate local ground forces, which the White House calls the most effective partners in the fight against terrorists, and troops of the Western coalition led by the United States.

The United States supports Syria's main opposition alliance, the National Coalition, and provides limited military assistance to "moderate" rebels.

The deployment of US special forces is the most significant boost to the US military operation against the Islamic State to date. Last week, the US military took direct part in the operation against Islamic State militants for the first time, freeing several dozen hostages. However, this operation was carried out in Iraq, not Syria.

Shortly after this, the Pentagon announced that it did not rule out the further use of special forces in individual operations against Islamic State militants, but they would not be of a systematic nature.

Since September 2014, American aircraft have been carrying out airstrikes against positions of the Islamic State and other extremist groups in Syria. However, the Americans emphasize that they do not interfere in the military operations waged against the militants by the Syrian army.