Days after President Obama announced the deployment of special operations forces in Syria, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said more American soldiers could “absolutely” be sent to Syria if the U.S. can find additional local groups willing to fight ISIS.

Carter told Voice of America News that the key to victory comes from local groups who are capable of winning and keeping the peace.

“Now, those are hard to find in Iraq and Syria. That’s why it’s going to take some time because we have to help develop, enable, encourage those forces,” the defense chief said. Using an acronym for the group, he added that some forces “have shown some effectiveness in fighting ISIL and, if they grow in size, we’ll do more. If we find additional groups that are willing to fight ISIL, and they’re capable and are vetted, we’ll do more. The president has indicated a willingness to do more. I’m certainly prepared to recommend that he do more, but you need to have capable local forces.”

Carter did mention that if more American troops were to go to Syria, their main mission would be to advise and assist rebel groups. However, he did admit that there may be situations in which U.S. troops may be forced into a combat situation, according to ABC News.

Meanwhile, the Huffington Post reported yesterday that the United States has intensified their airstrikes against the Islamic State within the last few days.

U.S. military forces reported from October 30 to November 6, coalition forces carried out 56 strikes against ISIS. The strikes were focused on the towns of al Hawl, al Hasakah, Mar’a, and Dayr az Zawr. Comparatively, there were only 3 airstrikes deployed within the 8 days before October 30. On Saturday alone, the U.S. and its allies carried out a dozen strikes, according to the Huffington Post.