The Special Air Service (SAS), one of the special forces units of the British Army, reportedly is coordinating with the US Specs Ops team to neutralise the Islamic State (Isis) militants in Raqqa.
The elite SAS team from UK operates under the US command. According to Express.co.uk, since January, 300 personnel from the British special forces are working with the US to carry out joint operations codenamed Operation Shader.
The elite units are assisted by AC 130 Hercules planes, A10 Warthog gunships and even F-16 jets.
The report noted that the SAS now have been asked to target the HQ of Isis in Syria - Raqqa. In past missions, the SAS and US Spec Ops have worked as joint sniper teams to eliminate high-value Isis targets in Syria, the report said.
However, the British and US special forces will also train moderate rebels to take out Isis from Raqqa. On 30 October, US President Barack Obama authorised a Special Operations team of 50 commandos to be deployed near Raqqa to train the moderate rebels.
Announcing the deployment, White House spokesman Josh Earnest insisted that the US Spec Ops will be there in a "train, advise and assist mission" and not in a combat role, NBC reported.
"It will not be their responsibility to lead the charge up the hill," he said. But he acknowledged they will be in a perilous situation: "There is no denying the amount of risk they are taking on here."
A senior British military source told Express.co.uk that now it will be the Iraqi and Kurdish forces trained by the British and US special forces, who will help carry out operations against Isis.
