President Barack Obama announced on Monday that his administration would deploy an extra 250 special forces soldiers to build on successes against ISIS, a step that represents the biggest expansion of U.S. ground troops in Syria since the civil war there began.
The new deployment will increase U.S. forces in Syria to about 300. The decision, announced by Obama in Germany at the end of a six-day foreign tour, appears indicates increasing confidence in the ability of U.S.-backed forces to claw back territory from the hardline terrorist group.
“Given the success, I’ve approved the deployment of up to 250 additional U.S. personnel in Syria, including special forces to keep up this momentum,” Obama said in a speech at a trade fair in the northern city of Hanover, the last stop on a trip that has taken him to Saudi Arabia and Britain.