Nov 16, 2016

The US-led international coalition battling to defeat the Islamic State group is not backing a drive by Turkish forces and Syrian rebels to retake a jihadist stronghold in northern Syria, the Pentagon said Wednesday.

Their offensive on the city of Al-Bab is not being supported by coalition air strikes because it was "independently" launched by Turkey, said US Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the coalition fighting the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.

"That's a national decision that they have made," Dorrian said, speaking from Baghdad in a videoconference with reporters.

The US military spokesman said the United States had withdrawn some special forces soldiers who had been deployed to support the Turkish forces and their allies.

"They are not a part of the advance in Al-Bab," he said.