United States has sent 400 additional troops to Syria to support an allied local force aiming to capture the Islamic State terror group's stronghold of Raqqa. They include Marines, who arrived in the past few days. <br/><br/><br/>US Special Forces are already in Syria. Defence officials told the Washington Post that a Marine artillery unit had been deployed with large field guns that can fire 155mm shells about 32 kilometers. <br/><br/>Over the weekend, a separate force of elite US Army Rangers was also deployed near a town north-west of Raqqa in heavily-armoured vehicles. Meanwhile, US-led coalition air strikes killed 20 civilians – including children – near the city, reports say. <br/><br/>US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to host talks with coalition members ahead of an expected assault on Raqqa. The State department said that Foreign Ministers and senior officials from 68 nations and international organisations had been invited to attend a two day gathering in Washington beginning on March, 22nd.<br/><br/><br/>'<br/><br/><br/>

The United States is deploying an additional 400 troops to help defeat the Islamic State group in Raqa, the jihadists' self-proclaimed capital in Syria. A spokesman for the US-led coalition said on today. "They are temporary forces," US Colonel John Dorrian told reporters in Baghdad, adding that the <br/>long-term authorized level of US troops in Syria would remain at 500.<br/><br/>IS jihadists are facing simultaneous offensives in northern Syria by government forces, Turkish-backed rebels, and a US-supported alliance of Kurdish and Arab fighters.'<br/><br/>US special operations forces have been inside Syria since 2015, advising and training the Kurdish-Arab fighters, who are grouped under the umbrella of the Syrian Democratic Forces.<br/><br/>The buildup comes amid calls by US President Donald Trump for new plans to accelerate the pace of the war against the Islamic State group.'<br/>'''''<br/><br/><br/>