WASHINGTON—Small numbers of U.S. special operations forces for the first time are accompanying Turkish government forces and their Syrian opposition partners fighting Daesh militants inside Syria, military and administration officials said Friday. The move follows a period of U.S. tensions with Turkey, including U.S. criticism of clashes last month between Turkish and Syrian Kurdish forces in northern Syria. Separately, the Pentagon announced that a U.S. airstrike near Raqqa, Syria, on Sept. 7 killed a Daesh leader it identified as Wa’il Adil Hasan Salman al-Fayad. In a statement explaining the new U.S. role with Turkish troops in Syria, a Pentagon spokesman, Navy Capt. “Access to the Turkey-Syria border region is strategically important to ISIL’s (Daesh’s) operations in Syria and Iraq as well,” Davis said.

Source: thestar September 16, 2016 19:39 UTC