On April 11, Col. Dorrian told Grasswire US military forces are on heightened alert in Syria after cruise missile strikes against Shayrat airbase, and Islamic State militants attempted to infiltrate At Tanf garrison in the south.
Text in the liveblog below is not verbatim. The full transcript is here.
CBS: Strikes scaled back in Syria. Weather? Deconfliction? Force protection?
Dorrian: Strike numbers will fluctuate. Bad weather in recent days. We’ll take opportunities.
Stars and Stripes: Is the SDF properly equipped? Do they need additional equipment?
Dorrian: The Coalition has brought additional firepower into Syria to support the advance. Includes Marine artillery and Apache helicopters.
Stars and Stripes: Negotiations re Turkey role in Raqqa?
Dorrian: That is a diplomatic effort rather than a mil-to-mil discussion.
Anadolu: Has number of US personnel or equipment increased in Syria since cruise missile attack?
Dorrian: We continue to have troops come into and out of Syria. There has been no real substantive change in numbers.
Q: Is deconfliction channel still open?
Dorrian: I am not able to do that.
Q: Have air operations returned to normal, re offensive strikes?
Dorrian: In the last week, 123 strikes toward isolating and liberating Raqqa. We have made adjustments to operations to account for the potential tensions.