Syria Situation Report: April 23 - 29, 2016

U.S. President Barack Obama announced his decision to deploy 250 additional Special Operations Forces to northern Syria, raising the total number of U.S. personnel in the country to 300. Obama emphasized that the new forces will “not be leading the fight on the ground” but instead work to recruit, train, and assist Sunni Arab fighters within the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in preparation for future operations to isolate the ISIS stronghold of Ar-Raqqa City. The U.S. will also deploy an advanced High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to the Syrian-Turkish border in May in response to continued IS shelling of the border town of Kilis in southern Turkey.

This graphic marks the latest installment of our Syria SITREP Map made possible through a partnership between the Institute for the Study of War and Syria Direct.