Germany has rejected an official request from Washington to send ground troops to help combat ISIS in northern Syria.

US special representative on Syria James Jeffrey told German media: “We want ground troops from Germany to partly replace our soldiers” in the area as part of the anti-Islamic State coalition

The German government responded by saying it had no plans to send ground troops to Syria.

The decision seems to be in line with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s position that there is no military solution to the conflict