A decision by US President Barack Obama to send special forces to Syria is strictly focused on fighting Islamic State insurgents and does not signify the United States is entering the civil war there, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

“President Obama has made a very strong and forceful and simple decision entirely in keeping with his originally stated policy that we must defeat and destroy Daesh,” Kerry said, using the Arabic term for Islamic State.

“It is not a decision to enter into Syria’s civil war. It is not an action focused on [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, it focused exclusively on Daesh and in augmenting our ability to rapidly attack Daesh,” Kerry told a news briefing during a visit to Kyrgyzstan’s capital, Bishkek.

Asked about the prospect of the US sending more troops, or getting drawn deeper into the conflict, Kerry said: “I can’t predict what the future will bring when our policy is to destroy Daesh, to fight back against this evil. But I do think the President has made a judgement that I completely advocated for and concur [with].”

The White House announced on Friday that dozens of special operations troops will be deployed to northern Syria to advise Opposition forces in their fight against Islamic State, which is also known by the acronym ISIL.

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