The move, which is said to be announced Monday, will once again contradict Obama’s 2013 promise of not putting any “American boots on the ground in Syria.”
“[Obama] intends to put in more … forces to the tune of 250 in Syria,” a US official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
This would bring to 300 the total number of American troops in Syria.
The goal, they say, is to encourage more Sunni Arabs to join Kurdish fighters in north-eastern Syria.
“The president has authorized a series of steps to increase support for our partners in the region, including Iraqi security forces as well as local Syrian forces who are taking the fight to ISIL,” said the official, referring to ISIL or Daesh terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government. They now control large parts of Iraq and Syria.
On Sunday, Mr Obama said he was “deeply concerned” about a surge in violence in Syria, with the opposition accusing the government of violating a truce brokered by the US and Russia.
Obama is scheduled to reveal more details in Hannover, Germany, on Monday at 11:25 a.m. local time. The US president is currently in Germany discussing various foreign policy issues, including Syria, Ukraine, Libya and the controversial Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade deal.
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