A group of 27 U.S. troops arrived in Turkey on Friday to man Patriot missile-defense batteries near the Syrian border. The troops landed in the city of Gaziantep. The U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands deployed Patriot missile-defense batteries to intercept Syrian ballistic missiles. Syria has launched Scud missiles at targets near the Turkish border in the past. The troops will be under the control of NATO, but the missiles will be operated by the U.S. forces. The United Nations announced on Wednesday that the overall death toll in Syria has risen to 60,000.
