"At the request of the government of Turkey, US special operations forces are accompanying Turkish and vetted Syrian opposition forces as they continue to clear territory from ISIL in and around the area of the Syrian border near Jarablus and al-Ra’i," said Pentagon spokesman Jeff Davis.
A US defense official said there were several dozen troops in the new Special Forces contingent.
The Turkish military also said in a statement that U.S. Special Forces were supporting an operation that was being carried out between the Syrian towns of Azaz and al-Rai.
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford, discussed the fight against ISIS earlier with his Turkish counterpart General Hulusi Akar on the sidelines of a NATO chiefs of staff meeting in Croatia.
On the other side, the American newspaper Wall Street Journal said that the Department of Defense approved sending 40 Special Operations troops to support the Turkish forces in Syria in their fights against ISIS.
A number of American troops tried, earlier on Friday, to enter al-Ra’i town, but they were not allowed to enter by one of opposition fighters’ factions “Ahrar al-Sharqiya”.
Americans came without pre-coordination with opposition fighters operating in the area. That is why Ahrar al-Sharqiya did not approve of their presence and forced them to leave, according to activists.
A meeting between opposition fighters’ leaders, Turkish and American officials was held after the incident. The meeting led to agreement on the presence of a limited number of American troops outside al-Ra’i, sources told Orient Net.
Others denied that such an agreement existed, amid threats from some opposition fighters’ factions, Ahrar al-Sharqiya in the forefront, that they would not participate in the fighting if the Americans returned.
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