The US Slides Deeper into the War in Syria

A Special Forces Operation Detachment-Alpha soldier on patrol. Image: US Army.

This week the US Department of Defense announced that it would send an additional 250 troops to Syria to serve in non-combat support roles. These come in addition to the approximately 50 Special Forces soldiers operating in Northern Syria in support of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). While still small, this new deployment marks the beginning of a move away from the ‘no boots on the ground’ policy of the Obama administration towards Syria.

While not explicitly stated, it is almost certain that these 250 troops being sent to the war-town country will be serving in support of the SDF. The reason for this is that this group is the US’s only successful partner on the ground in the fight against ISIS, and the only one far enough removed from the rebel/regime conflict in order to not cause diplomatic problems with Russia and Iran.

Furthermore, the US has recently constructed an airbase located in Rimelan in SDF-held northeast Syria, and local media there has already begun reporting the arrival of these US troops.

The primary question however is not who they will support, but rather in what manner. Significantly, it remains to be seen exactly how loosely the US defines the ‘support role’ provided by the troops.

While this is mostly talked about from the perspective of training local forces and calling in airstrikes from behind the front lines, this is not always the case. Experience over the last year in Iraq has shown that US troops do occasionally involve themselves in direct fighting with ISIS, and have suffered casualties from this. Moreover, footage has emerged in recent days of western Special Forces engaged in fighting on the front lines with the SDF during their offensive on Al-Shaddadi earlier this year.

With this in mind, it would appear that the US troops announced will play a mixed role; providing training and airstrike targeting support combined with at least some combat teams spearheading key advances. All of this will come in use as the SDF plans to conduct new offensives deep into ISIS-held territory, and into areas which are predominately ethnically Arab. There, support from the local population and tribes will be critical, and US assistance will help fold more non-Kurdish fighters into the SDF, garnering it greater international (and intra-Syrian) legitimacy

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Taking a wider view, the US decision to become more deeply involved in Syria comes alongside moves which suggest the country has decided on the SDF as its favored partner in the country, and the best bet to defeat ISIS. While Russia has raised some concerns with the deployment, it does not interfere significantly with its own objectives for now, and the country is in itself supporting a separate SDF pocket further west. Notwithstanding major changes in the situation on the ground, the deployment of small numbers of US soldiers to the region could become a more regular occurrence as the final push towards ISIS’s capital Ar-Raqqa picks up. 

NATO: No evidence for Afghan misconduct claim

The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan said Monday it has found no evidence to support allegations that American special operations forces were involved in the abuse of Afghan civilians in a restive eastern province that serves as a gateway to Kabul. 

The statement came as the Afghan government moved ahead with an order to expel the special operations forces from Wardak province within two weeks, undeterred by fears the decision could leave the area and the neighboring capital more vulnerable to al-Qaida and other insurgents.

Provincial officials and analysts expressed concern the already dangerous province could bec

ome more unstable without the American firepower, although they agreed with President Hamid Karzai’s decision to investigate the allegations.

Karzai issued the order on Sunday after a meeting of the National Security Council at which Wardak provincial governor Abdul Majid Khogyani and other local officials blamed Afghans working with U.S. special operations forces for the disappearance of at least nine men and the murder of an Afghan university student. The U.S. forces are being expelled because of their association with the Afghan groups.

Khogyani and the other officials also alleged that the Afghans working for the American special operations forces were involved in abusive behavior including torture, killings and illegal detentions.

The armed Afghans are not part of the Afghan security forces, the government has said, implying that they are members of secret militias working with the Americans.

Coalition spokesman German Gen. Gunter Katz said the International Security Assistance Force found no evidence showing foreign forces were involved in abuses, but he did not comment on the Afghans allegedly linked to the Americans.

“We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them,” Katz told reporters. “Over the past few weeks there have been various allegations of special forces conducting themselves in an unprofessional manner” in Wardak.

He added that “so far, we could not find evidence that would support these allegations.”

Katz said he would not comment on the allegations until the coalition talks to the Afghan government “in the near future.”

An ISAF spokesman, Jamie Graybeal, said that “in recent months, a thorough review has confirmed that no coalition forces have been involved in the alleged misconduct in Wardak province.”

He said that the two sides had agreed to a joint commission to look “into the current concerns of citizens” in Wardak.

Presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi, however, said the government had asked NATO about the groups in the past and had not received a satisfactory answer.

Wardak is a lynchpin province that connects the capital to southern Afghanistan, and the country’s main north-south highway and trade route runs through its hills and desert plains. It is considered a transit point for insurgents coming from the south — the Taliban heartland — and from the east along the Pakistani frontier where insurgents retain safe havens.

The area outside the provincial capital of Maidan Shahr — an hour’s drive from the capital — is so dangerous that local officials reported they often can’t go to their offices by road.

It has been the focus of counterinsurgency efforts in recent years and the site of many attacks against coalition and U.S. bases, including one in November that killed three Afghan civilians and wounded 90. In August 2011, insurgents shot down a Chinook helicopter, killing 30 American troops, mostly elite Navy SEALs, in Wardak. The crash was the single deadliest loss for U.S. forces in the war.

At least 100 insurgent groups operate in Wardak, including al-Qaida, the Taliban and fighters loyal to the Pakistan-based Haqqani militant network, according to Jawed Kohistani, a political and military analyst. He said recent suicide attacks in the capital were an indication that the situation could deteriorate if special forces withdrew from Wardak.

“They can attack convoys, destabilize the security situation in Kabul,” he said. “It is giving them opportunity to get stronger in Wardak, and that will be a real threat to the security of Kabul city.”

The Afghan government has said it is confident its own security forces, which took the lead for security in Wardak last December, can deal with the insurgents and stabilize the province.

It is unclear how many of the extremely secretive U.S. special operations forces are operating in Wardak.

“We never talk about special operating forces. We don’t about their numbers either,” said Katz.

Afghan forces have been in control of Kabul for years and Katz said then government had assured them that “they are capable enough to provide security” for the capital.

Sher Shah Bazon, a member of the Wardak provincial council, said there were many complaints about Afghan groups working with U.S. special operations forces, but “we must find a solution for this sort of issue here by talking with the U.S. special operations forces, which did not happen. Instead a decision was made which I believe most people are not happy with it.”

He said that Wardak was so insecure that local officials had problems getting around.

“A district governor or a district police chief in many districts can’t go to their offices by road, and if they go they must have a big convoy of security forces with them. So with a security situation like this, the withdrawal of the foreign forces is not a good idea,” he said.

Most of the complaints are aimed at the Afghans working with the U.S. special operations forces, provincial officials said.

“I can say a lack of coordination between the Afghan and foreign forces caused all these problems in Wardak. The withdrawal of the U.S. special forces from Wardak would not be to the benefit of people, government and security of Wardak province. I am sure that would have a negative impact on the security of Kabul city as well,” said Mohammad Hazrat Janan, deputy head of provincial council.

NATO troops rescue 4 hostages in Afghanistan

It was a risky, but successful operation: British and other NATO forces stormed a cave tucked in the mountains before dawn Saturday and rescued two foreign female aid workers and their two Afghan colleagues being held hostage by Taliban-linked militants.

Helicopters, flying under the cover of darkness, ferried the rescue team to extreme northeastern Afghanistan where they suspected the hostages were being held. After confirming the workers were there, they raided the site, killed several militants and freed the hostages, ending their nearly two-week ordeal.

Helen Johnston, 28, from Britain; Moragwa Oirere, 26, from Kenya; and their two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped May 22 while traveling on horseback in Badakhshan province. The four work for Medair, a humanitarian non-governmental organization based near Lausanne, Switzerland.

“They were kidnapped by an armed terrorist group with ties to the Taliban,” said Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition fighting in Afghanistan. “The kidnappers were armed with heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and AK47s. ... The hostages were being held in a cave in the mountains.”

Past rescue attempts in Afghanistan have not always gone so well.

In 2009, Sultan Munadi, an Afghan translator kidnapped alongside New York Times reporter Stephen Farrell, was killed in a hail of bullets during a rescue attempt by British commandos. In 2010, the U.S. Navy’s SEAL Team 6 tried to rescue Linda Norgrove, a Scottish aid worker, from her Taliban captors in Afghanistan. She was killed by a grenade thrown in haste by one of the American commandos.

Afghan officials said seven militants were killed during Saturday’s rescue operation, which was launched about 1 a.m.

British Prime Minister David Cameron approved the rescue operation Friday afternoon after becoming increasingly concerned about the safety of the hostages. The mission was carried out by British troops in cooperation with other NATO and Afghan forces, Cameron told reporters outside 10 Downing Street in London.

He said it was “extraordinarily difficult” to decide to go ahead with the operation, which involved a “long route march” without being discovered.

“It was an extraordinarily brave, breathtaking even, operation that our troops had to carry out,” Cameron said.

British Army Lt. Gen. Adrian Bradshaw, deputy commander of the NATO military coalition in Afghanistan, said the rugged area had steep mountains, deep gullies and demanding terrain.

“The hostages are in good health — we’ve seen all four of them this morning,” Bradshaw said, adding they would be reunited with their families soon.

Johnston’s family expressed delight over the news that the aid worker and her colleagues had been freed.

“We are deeply grateful to everyone involved in her rescue, to those who worked tirelessly on her behalf, and to family and friends for their love, prayers and support over the last twelve days,” the family said in a statement.

Medair spokesman Aurilien Demaurex also expressed relief that the aid workers had been rescued and said the company was “immensely grateful to all parties involved in ensuring their swift and safe return.”

Shams ul-Rahman, the deputy governor of Badakhshan province, said the hostages had been held in Gulati, a village in Shahri Buzurg district, near the Tajikistan border.

“Mostly smugglers are based in those areas, but of course the smugglers have the support of the Taliban,” Rahman said.

He said Afghan elders in the area had been working to seek the release of the aid workers.

“A group of elders was about to go to the village and start negotiations,” Rahman said. “Based on intelligence reports that Afghan forces received, a successful operation was conducted that resulted in the release of the hostages and the killing of the kidnappers.”

Separately, a NATO service member died Saturday following an insurgent attack in southern Afghanistan. The coalition released no other details about the death. So far this year, 177 foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan.

Also in the south, Abdul Salaam, the Taliban’s military leader for three districts in southern Helmand province, was killed Friday in a joint operation by the Afghan and coalition forces in Kajaki district, the provincial governor’s office said Saturday. Abdul Salaam was the brother of Qayum Zakir, a member of Taliban’s leadership council known as the Quetta Shura after the Pakistani city of the same name, said Fared Ahmad Farhang, a spokesman for the police in Helmand province.

In the east, NATO and Afghan forces detained a militant commander who allegedly planned and coordinated an attack on a coalition base in eastern Khost province Friday. Several other insurgents were detained during the operation in Sabari district. Militants detonated a truck bomb outside Forward Operating Base Salerno on Friday, then tried to storm the site, but coalition forces repelled the attack, killing 14 militants. No foreign or Afghan troops were killed.