US Special Forces join Turkish troops in northern Syria

As U.S. Special Forces joined Turkish troops and Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters along the Turkish border near Jarablus and al-Rai in Syria, Turkey-backed forces have continued advancing to the southern areas of northern Syria. 

Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis told reporters that U.S. commandos had joined the Turkish military and "vetted Syrian opposition forces" fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) near Jarablus and al-Rai.

The move came "at the request of the government of Turkey," Davis said.

A Turkish General Staff statement also confirmed that U.S. special operations forces accompanied Turkish troops in al-Rai.

"U.S. personnel operating with Turkish forces and Syrian opposition forces will provide the same train, advise and assist support they have been providing to other local partners in Syria fighting ISIL," Davis wrote in an email to state-run Anadolu Agency on Sept. 16.

The new development comes as the FSA, backed by Turkish artillery earlier in the day, began to move toward ISIL stronghold al-Bab, nearly 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of al-Rai as a part of Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched Aug. 24 by Ankara. It aims at improving security, supporting coalition forces and eliminating the terror threat along Turkey's border using FSA fighters backed by Turkish armor, artillery and jets.

The Syrian town of al-Rai and Jarablus were recently cleared of ISIL militants as part of the operation.
Davis said the U.S. would continue to support the counter-ISIL fight in northern Syria because "access to the Syria-Turkey border region is strategically important to ISIL's operations in Syria and Iraq as well as the group's attempts to export terror to Turkey, the wider region,...