US special forces to arrive in Syria 'very soon'

Dozens of US special operations forces plan to arrive in Syria "very soon," special envoy Brett McGurk told CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday.

The US troops hope to organise local forces battling the Islamic State (IS) group in northern Syria.

In late October, Obama authorised up to 50 special forces soldiers to deploy to northern Syria in a non-combatant, advisory role as a way to help coordinate local ground troops and anti-IS coalition forces.

The authorisation marks the first official deployment of US troops on the ground in Syria since an international coalition formed to counter the violent group.

They plan to assist an Arab-Kurd coalition that includes the main Syrian Kurdish militia the People's Protection Units (YPG), Arab groups and Syrian Christians.

Anti-IS forces "have been doing a very successful operation," McGurk said.

"This is focused on isolating the capital of ISIL in Raqqa," he added.

McGurk said the anti-IS coalition has retaken about 1,100 square kilometers in the past two weeks and killed about 300 fighters. 

The US-led coalition aims to "suffocate and strangle them in the core" of IS in Iraq and Syria through multiple coordinated offensives, McGurk said.

The coalition is also trying to cut off access for IS to the Syrian border in order to cut off the main access route between Raqqa and the Iraqi city of Mosul, McGurk explained.

The decision to put special forces soldiers in Syria appears to contrast earlier statements made by President Obama.

“I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria,” Obama said in September 2013.