US “military advisers” have entered Raqqa

US troops are already operating inside the town of Raqqa, ISIS’ last major bastion in Syria, a US official said Wednesday. Many of them are special operations forces, said to be working in an "advise, assist and accompany" role to support the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to Colonel Ryan Dillon, a military spokesman. He said the American troops are not in a direct combat role, but are calling in air strikes. But they are working closer to the battle than did the US forces that supported the Iraqi army in Mosul, where the Iraqi prime minister declared victory of ISIS earlier this week.