Cpl. Christopher Russell, a landing support specialist with 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, watches as a CH-53E Super Stallion lifts a concrete barrier during helicopter external load training at Arta Beach, Djibouti, Feb. 16, 2017.
U.S. Marines have arrived in Syria to support local forces as they attempt to retake Raqqa, the de facto capital of ISIS. And the Marines have brought some ground-shaking hardware with them: M777 Howitzers.
A couple hundred Marines from an amphibious task force will establish an outpost from which they can fire artillery guns to obliterate Daesh. The group from the Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 4th Marines, and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which left San Diego on Navy ships in October, will have M777 Howitzers at their disposal and make it rain 155mm shells on ISIL. Their mission is to assist the coalition of militias collectively known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their effort to reclaim the northern Syrian city. The major operation to recapture Raqqa is codenamed Operation “Euphrates Anger,” and officially began on Nov. 7. The mission will be spearheaded by 30,000 SDF forces and supported by U.S. airstrikes.
The mission will also utilize attack helicopters and more Special Operations troops. Several hundred Special Operations troops have been advising local forces for months, but had been reluctant to deploy conventional military to Syria until now.
The Marines were flown from Djibouti to Kuwait and then into Syria. A defense official said this deployment is part of the new effort to “accelerate the fight” against the militants. The deployment is said to be “temporary.”
Islamic State has witnessed their so-called caliphate shrink in recent months and they are on the verge of losing their stranglehold of the city of Mosul in Iraq (Which you can see photos and videos of the operation HERE).
An official noted that the Marines’ movement into Syria was not an order by President Donald J. Trump, but rather that it had “been in the works for some time.”
The Trump administration has invited more than 60 nations and international organizations to Washington for a session from March 22-23 to discuss strategies on how to counter ISIS. The Washington Post reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will lead the two-day gathering which will not only be focusing on military solutions, but also how to hurt ISIS financially.