The United States has deployed a column of armored personnel carriers to the northern Syrian city of Manbij to support Kurdish troops in the area.
The vehicles form part of a deployment of 500 US troops in Syria – many of whom are special forces – aimed at defeating ISIS.
According to Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve, the US troops have been deployed to ‘deter aggression and keep focus on defeating ISIS’.
The US troops are supporting Kurdish PKK rebels who are heavily involve in the struggle to retake Raqqa, the ISIS capital.
Kurdish forces claim they have blocked all of the roads entering and leaving Raqqa.
However, the PKK are deemed a terrorist organisation by Turkey, who have also got troops deployed in the region.
Besides the autonomous Kurdish-led forces, Turkish, Syrian government and Syrian opposition fighters have all been jostling for territory formerly held by ISIS group near the Turkish-Syrian frontier.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, led by the Syrian Kurdish PKK party, are the current front runners in the race to Raqqa, the IS capital. They are now stationed five miles north of the Euphrates River city and supported by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes and a deployment of some 500 U.S. special forces operators. The Pentagon has said they are working in an advisory capacity.
READ MORE: US armored personnel carriers deployed to Syria | Daily Mail Online
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