Pentagon May Mull Deployment of Extra Ground Troops to Syria

The Pentagon will consider sending more ground troops to Syria to fight the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) militants, should the current plan of troop deployment prove effective, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On October 30, the White House revealed plans to send up to 50 special operations troops to Syria to aid the so-called moderate opposition.

According to the USA Today newspaper’s Monday report citing a defence official, the deployment of extra ground troops would be linked to the ability of local forces to regain land from Daesh.

Last month, US President Barack Obama reiterated that he will not send additional ground troops to Syria to join operations against Daesh.

The US-led international coalition of 65 nations has been fighting for over a year to defeat Daesh in Iraq and to a lesser extent in Syria, where Russia has been conducting airstrikes against Daesh positions at the request of President Bashar Assad since September. Russia has outlawed Daesh on its territory, classifying it as a terrorist organization.