US helicopters, special ops take part in Syrian militia airlift

İstanbul, Mar 24 (DHA) –  Forces such as Apache helicopters, U.S. Marine artillery and special operation troops were part of a U.S.-led coalition operation to air drop Syrian militia into an area near the Islamic State (IS) stronghold Raqqa, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
Tabqa Dam at the southern end of Lake Assad is about 55 kilometers west of Raqqa, which IS views as the capital of its supposed “caliphate.”
The IS-held facility provides electricity to much of the region and its destruction would result in widespread flooding.
In a first, U.S. forces helicoptered an unspecified number of Arab SDF troops to Taqba, meaning they are now behind IS lines as they try to secure the dam.
The SDF has been working for months to encircle Raqqa before pushing into the city proper.
He said that about 75 to 80 percent of the forces air dropped were members of the Syrian Arab Coalition group and the remainder were from another part of the SDF, some of whom were Kurdish fighters.
US senator warns of ‘tough decisions’ with Syrian Kurds
The U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Syria faces “tough decisions” on how much it should support Kurdish fighters in an offensive to reclaim Raqqa from the jihadists, Senator John McCain, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, said on Wednesday.
“The conundrum is that if you don’t use the Kurds, [the battle] takes a lot longer,” McCain told reporters.
“But if you do, you have an enormous challenge as far as relations with Turkey are concerned, including things like the use of İncirlik,” he added, referring to the Turkish air base used heavily by the coalition to hit IS targets in northern Syria.
McCain said he met recently with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and the two spoke about the Kurdish issue.
Tillerson pledges safe areas for refugees
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Wednesday2 the United States would set up “interim zones of stability” to help refugees return home in the next phase of the fight against IS and al-Qaeda in Syria and Iraq.
The top U.S. diplomat did not make clear where these zones were to be set up. He was addressing a meeting of 68 countries and organizations gathered in Washington to discuss accelerating the battle against IS.
“The United States will increase our pressure on IS and al-Qaeda and will work to establish interim zones of stability, through ceasefires, to allow refugees to return home” Tillerson told the gathering at the State Department, where the former oil executive was hosting his first major diplomatic event.
Turkey has long promoted the establishment of a terror-free safe zone inside Syria for refugees to come back and settle in.