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Defence & Security News - France
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| France admits deploying special forces advisors in Syria | |||
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France has deployed special forces advisors at the northeast of Syria to help local groups fight the Islamic State and liberate the city of Manbij. According to Col Gilles Jaron, the French Army’s spokesman, who confirmed the deployment of the forces, the offensive is aiming to cut the jihadists’ supply route connecting Raqqa with areas all the way up to Turkey.
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 French special forces soldiers boarding a Caracal helicopter during an exercise (Photo: French Army) |
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Last week, the French Defence Minister Jean-Yves le Drian stated that France is supporting the counter-ISIS forces with the provision of arms, advisory and with aerial support, while other defence ministry’s sources said that the special forces are training the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fight ISIS. SDF is comprised of Kurdish YPG, mainly, and other smaller groups, secondarily. France has allegedly deployed also around 150 operators in the Kurdish regions of Iraq, supporting and advising in the fight against ISIS. A new shipment of supplies is expected to arrive to the Kurdish forces within June, as previously stated by minister Jean-Yves le Drian following a meeting in April with the Prime Minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, Nechirvan Barzani. |
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