MANAMA (Reuters) - The United States will send 200 additional military personnel including special forces to the campaign against Islamic State in Syria to create a “tornado” of pressure against the group’s Raqqa hub, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday,

U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter attends a meeting with Japan's Defense Minister Tomomi Inada at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 2016. Carter, who made the announcement at the International Institute for Strategic Studies' Manama Dialogue, said the additional forces will help "to continue organizing, training, equipping, and otherwise enabling capable, motivated, local forces to take the fight to ISIL, and also bringing down to bear the full weight of U.S. forces around the theater of operations like the funnel of a giant tornado." "The United States will deploy approximately 200 additional US forces to Syria," Carter said, adding that the new contingent would include special operations forces, trainers, advisers, and explosive ordinance disposal teams. The extra troops will include special operations forces and are in addition to 300 U.S. troops already authorized for the effort to recruit, organize, train and advise local Syrian forces to combat the Islamic State. US and Turkey agree to long-term plan on Raqqa US and Turkey agree to long-term plan on Raqqa "We're getting into what is predominantly traditionally more Arab territory," so more Arab fighters are needed, the defense official said.
The United States announces that it will deploy an additional 200 troops to help force the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant from Al-Raqqah.