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Thursday, March 9, 2017

Middle East

IS conflict: US sends Marines to support Raqqa assault


Sgt. Joseph Reed Jr., training chief, Headquarters and Service company, Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, (BLT 2/1), 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, fires his first M777A2 Howitzer round as part of a Tactical Air Control Party exercise during Realistic Urban Training Marine Expeditionary Unit Exercise (RUTMEUEX) 14-1 at Camp Roberts, California, 26 March 2014
The US has sent several hundred Marines to Syria to support an allied local force aiming to capture the so-called Islamic State (IS) stronghold of Raqqa.
They reportedly arrived in the past few days to establish an outpost from which they will be able to fire artillery at IS positions some 32km (20 miles) away.
US special forces are already on the ground, advising the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.
The alliance is expected to launch an assault on Raqqa in the coming weeks.
Defence officials told the Washington Post the Marines planned to set up an artillery battery that could fire powerful 155mm shells from M777 howitzers.
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