ERBIL, Kurdistan Region—The United States’ top military commander in the Middle East made a brief visit to Syria on Saturday to meet with Kurdish and Arab allies. Army Gen. Joseph Votel, the head of US Central Command, flew into an undisclosed location in northern Syria where he met with US military advisers working with Syrian Arab rebel groups as well as leaders of the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters. His visit was only made public after he left the country, for security reasons. Media travelling with the general reported that Votel flew into a US military camp where advisers are training Syrian Arabs, before visiting other unknown locations without the presence of the media. The Associated Press reported that Votel was in the country for nearly 11 hours and was there to see American efforts regarding building coalitions between Arab and Kurdish groups in the fight against the Islamic State. Votel is the highest ranking US officer to enter Syria since the US began its campaign against the Islamic State in 2014. Last month US President Barak Obama announced the deployment of an additional 250 Special Forces to Syria, a sixfold increase in the number of American soldiers in Syria.
