美国有线新闻 CNN 美海军陆战队进入叙利亚 支援叙武装力量夺取IS大本营（在线收听）

U.S. Marines are reportedly on the ground in the Middle Eastern country of Syria and they have artillery. They're gearing up for an assault on the northern Syrian city of Raqqa. Syria has been at civil war since 2011.

The ISIS terrorist group which controls a significant part of the country has declared Raqqa as its capital. But local Syrian fighters who were supported by the U.S. are preparing to try to drive ISIS out of Raqqa, and U.S. officials say the additional American Marines are there to help.

The U.S. military hasn't said exactly where the Marines are or how many are there. In fact, it hasn't confirmed that they're in Syria at all because of concerns about security. But as the U.S. military is supporting Iraq troops effort to drive ISIS from the Iraqi city of Mosul, American military commanders have been talking for weeks about a deployment near Raqqa. U.S. officials don't expect this to be the last battles against ISIS, but they could dramatically weaken the terrorist group's strength in the Middle East.