This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-46623617
The article has changed 13 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Syria conflict: US 'planning to withdraw troops' | Syria conflict: US 'planning to withdraw troops' |
(35 minutes later) | |
The US is preparing to withdraw all its troops from Syria, US media are quoting defence officials as saying. | |
One official told CNN the planning was for a "full" and "rapid" withdrawal. | |
President Donald Trump tweeted that the Islamic State (IS) group - also known as ISIS - had been defeated in Syria and that was his "only reason for being there". | |
Some 2,000 troops have helped rid much of north-eastern Syria of IS, but pockets of fighters remain. | |
It had been thought US defence officials wanted to stay to ensure the militant group could not rebuild. | |
Just a few days ago, Brett McGurk, Mr Trump's special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat IS, said:"Nobody is saying that [IS fighters] are going to disappear. Nobody is that naive. So we want to stay on the ground and make sure that stability can be maintained in these areas". | |
But President Trump promised in March this year that US troops would leave Syria "very soon". | |
The timing of a withdrawal is unclear. The Pentagon has refused to comment. | |
US forces are currently supporting an alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters (the Syrian Democratic Forces) that is closing in on the last pocket of territory in south-eastern Syria controlled by IS, around the town of Hajin in the Middle Euphrates River Valley. | |
Earlier on Wednesday, the US-led multinational coalition against IS said in a statement that the operation, which began on 1 May, was continuing "to gain ground and remove terrorists from the battlefield". |