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More U.S. Troops Bound for Afghanistan, As Marines, Commandos, Arrive In Syria

Foreign Policy: The top general overseeing America’s wars told Congress Thursday that more U.S. troops will likely be needed in Afghanistan to help train and advise Afghan forces, and left the door open to sending more U.S. forces into Iraq and Syria to fight the Islamic State.

The comments by Gen. Joseph Votel, head of U.S. Central Command, come amid rapid changes in the U.S. military posture in the region. Just this week, approximately 400 U.S. Marines deployed to a base near the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa, Syria to assist U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces as they move on the city. Additionally, U.S. Army special operations forces were rushed to northern Syria to act as a buffer between the SDF and Turkish-backed militias who had been threatening their bases around the city of Manbij, and American warplanes unleashed a new wave of bombing runs on al Qaeda in Yemen.

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