US President Donald Trump (center) and Secretary of Defense James Mattis (L) board Air Force One prior to departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, March 2, 2017. (Photo by AFP).
Washington: The United States may be planning to send an additional thousand troops to Syria, according to Pentagon officials.
The officials said Thursday that the troops would not take a combat role initially but would support the allied assault on Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS in Syria, (The Washington Post ) reported.
There are about 700 special forces and 300 Marines in Syria presently. The Marines landed last week.
US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to draw up a plan to defeat ISIS in both Syria and Iraq. During the presidential campaign he said he'd consider sending up to 30,000 soldiers to fight ISIS.
