Armed men in uniform identified by Syrian Democratic forces as U.S. special operations ride in the back of a pickup truck in the village of Fatisah in the northern Syrian province of Raqa on May 25, 2016.(Photo: Delil Souleiman, AFP/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Photographs of U.S. commandos with battle gear<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Syria raised questions Thursday about their level of involvement in the fight against the Islamic State.
The photos by Agence France-Presse show a small group of U.S. troops in a Syrian town. They include shots of bearded troops riding in the back of a dusty pickup truck with a grenade launcher. Other pictures show them patroling<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a village identified as Fatisah with their weapons. Some of the troops<span style="color: Red;">*</span>wear patches that belong to Kurdish fighters who have been fighting the Islamic State, also known as ISIL.
“Nothing has changed in our relationships or our distance from the front lines of combat,” the military’s top spokesman in Baghdad, Army Col. Steve Warren, said in an email. “These U.S. (Special Operations) soldiers are advising and assisting our partner forces who are effectively fighting against ISIL.”
Warren acknowledged that the soldiers were north of Raqqa, the self-proclaimed capital of the Islamic State. They are advising Syrian Democratic Forces comprised of Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen. The Americans wore the Kurdish patches as a sign of partnership and solidarity, he said.
The Pentagon maintains that U.S. troops in Syria and Iraq are primarily involved in training and assisting local forces fighting Islamic State militants. However, U.S. soldiers, marines and Navy SEALs have engaged in intense fighting at times. Two troops have been killed in the fighting, and several more wounded.
Military officials and the White House have struggled to reconcile the difference between advising and fighting, often shying away from the term combat. Last month, the Pentagon announced that it was sending 250 special operators to Syria to bolster the force of 50. At the time, Peter Cook, the Pentagon press secretary, said the intent was not to have the troops on the front line or engaged in combat.
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On Thursday, Cook said the troops in the photograph, though authorized to defend themselves, are not on the front line.
The soldiers are supposed to stay out of fighting, said a Defense official who has seen the pictures but was not authorized to speak publicly about them. But supposed to stay away and actually staying away, the official said, are two different things.
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