Konflikten i Syrien

Russia: Mossad, other foreign agents killed in Aleppo strikeCiting ‘battlefield sources,’ state media says its warships bombed 30 officers from Israel, Qatar and Western countries
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In addition to the Mossad agents, the Russian report claimed, military officials from the United States, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Turkey — virtually every country hated by Iran, Syria and Russia — were killed in the strike, according to “battlefield sources.”

The foreign officers were “directing the terrorists’ attacks in Aleppo and Idlib,” the Iranian Fars news reported, referring to the rebel groups that control the Syrian cities.

The Israeli government did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A small team of American ground troops will deploy to northern Syria to assist opposition groups in the fight against Islamic State militants.

These would be the first U.S. ground forces sent to Syria for more than a raid or a specific mission.

The White House said Friday that the president had authorized fewer than 50 U.S. special operations forces to coordinate Syrian local fighter movements with the U.S.-led coalition efforts.
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The "true intent" of putting Americans in Syria, he told VOA, is to give the Syrian groups guidance on "basic level planning." There are about 17 tribal factions striving to remove Islamic State fighters from the militant group's headquarters in Raqqah. That effort needs coordination, he said, and the U.S. forces will be there to help “draw in the sand” how units can move forward as one force against the enemy.

A senior defense official said the U.S. troops would not be involved in unilateral U.S. raids or joint raids with Syrian forces. However, she would not rule out the possibility of “adjusting” their role in the future.