Article content

The United States is deepening its involvement in the war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant after an unprecedented American airlift of Arab and Kurdish fighters to the front lines in northern Syria, supported by the first use of U.S. attack helicopters and artillery in the country.

The U.S. forces didn’t engage in ground combat, but the offensive suggests the Trump administration is taking an increasingly aggressive approach as it plans an upcoming assault on the extremists’ self-declared capital of Raqqa. In addition to using helicopters to ferry rebels into combat near the Tabqa Dam on the Euphrates River, the U.S. also flew two Apache gunships and fired Marine 155mm artillery.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'This is pretty major': U.S. attack helicopters ferry allied fighters to front lines in Syria for the first time Back to video

“This is pretty major,” Col. Joseph Scrocca, a spokesman for the U.S.-led military coalition that is fighting ISIL militants in Syria and Iraq, told reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday. He said it was the first time U.S. forces have airlifted local fighters into combat in Syria. An undisclosed number of U.S. military advisers were inserted with the rebels.