QAMISHLI, Syria: The top US military commander for the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria Friday to meet a US-backed alliance fighting the Islamic State group, the alliance’s spokesman said. General Joseph Votel, who heads US Central Command (Centcom), met with leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces in the first such trip under the new US administration. He described the meeting as “confirmation of US support for our forces.”An SDF source told Agence France-Presse the visit lasted four hours. Votel made a similar trip to Syria in May 2016, meeting with SDF commanders as well as US military advisers working alongside them. The United States has special operations forces advising the SDF on the ground in Syria, but no combat units.

Source: Manila Times February 25, 2017 13:12 UTC