Story highlights President Obama announces additional special operations forces to Syria

The increase will significantly increase the number of U.S. troops in advisory capacities present in the country

(CNN) President Barack Obama announced Monday an additional 250 special operations forces will be sent to Syria in the coming weeks in a speech in Hannover, Germany, in an effort to stem the influence and spread of ISIS.

"Just as I approved additional support for Iraqi forces against ISIL, I've decided to increase U.S. support for local forces fighting ISIL in Syria, a small number of special operations forces are already on the ground in Syria and their expertise has been critical as local forces have driven ISIL out of key areas," Obama said, using another acronym for the jihadist group.

"So given their success I've approved the deployment of up to 250 additional U.S. personnel in Syria including special forces to keep up this momentum," he said.

Special forces

Obama stressed that U.S. troops will not be leading the fight on the ground but they will be essential in training and assisting local forces.

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