"Any foreign troops coming to Syria without our invitation or consultation or permission, they are invaders, whether they are American, Turkish, or any other one," Assad said. The Syrian leader made the comments i n an interview with Chinese media outlet Phoenix TV . It was published on Syria's state-news agency SANA on Saturday. US Marines have arrived in northern Syria with artillery to support US-backed local forces fighting there, US officials said. The US-backed fighters are preparing to move in the coming weeks to assault the city of Raqqa, ISIS' self-declared capital, according to the officials.

Source: CNN March 11, 2017 12:04 UTC