AERZEN, Germany — President Barack Obama on Monday announced the deployment to Syria of an additional 250 U.S. special operations forces to assist local troops who are trying to dislodge Islamic State extremists from their war-torn country, significantly broadening the American presence there.

Obama, touting recent gains against the group, said the added troops would help “to keep up this momentum” against IS. The move will bring the number of personnel to roughly 300, up from about 50 special operations forces currently there.(nypost.com)…[+]