US marines have been sent to Syria to help the assault on the ISIS stronghold, Raqqa according to US officials. Hundreds of marines armed with heavy artillery have arrived in Syria to support local allied forces in the operation to retake the Syrian city of Raqqa from ISIS. The marines were deployed without the permission of the Syrian government, Central Command chief Gen. Joseph Votel said in a congressional hearing on Thursday. “We are not,” Votel stated when asked whether US sent marines at the request or with the permission of the Syrian government. “We are looking at that as an extension of the authority to operate from Iraq.” Press TV reports: Marines from the San Diego-based 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit have deployed a battery of 155mm Howitzers to an outpost in Syria and “are ready to conduct their mission,” a US official told AFP on Thursday. The deployment marks a significant move for conventional US forces in Syria, which have been limited to about 500 Special Operations forces on the ground. Air Force Colonel John Dorrian, spokesman of the coalition purportedly fighting Daesh, said the additional forces, comprising a total of 400 Marines and Army Rangers, would be working with the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian Arab Coalition. Dorrian [...]