This apparent proof of direct air support provided to the YPG is a spot of good news in a otherwise protracted and ruthless war. American jets have been providing air strikes for the Peshmerga and the YPG for months, but how the airstrikes are coordinated exactly remains a bit gray. For the most part, it seems clear that the airstrikes hit ISIS targets that can be visually identified from the air by the pilots, such as tanks and artillery pieces.

But as American and coalition Special Operations personnel filter in and out of Kurdistan, it appears that the level of intelligence gathering, and thus pinpoint targeting, has improved to some degree. With Special Forces ODAs and operators from JSOC on the ground coordinating airstrikes with Kurdish generals, the targeting has improved a bit, even if it leaves much to be desired. Contrary to popular belief, not all of these airstrikes are being called in by U.S. or coalition soldiers on the ground. In fact, most of them are not. Joining them are coalition troops from the UK, Germany, Italy, and Canada.

That the YPG would receive AC-130 gunship support for their ground operations tells us something else—that the airstrike was coordinated with the YPG in a manner that allowed them to exploit the air support and assault the ISIS position. It is highly unlikely that there are American military ‘boots on the ground’ in Syria with the YPG, but the airstrike was coordinated notwithstanding. It is also interesting because the YPG is the offspring of the PKK, an organization that remains (rightly or wrongly) on the U.S. State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations.