Trump says to decide on future of troops in Syria
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a "determination" will be made regarding American troops in Syria, but did not provide further details. He denied previously stating that he would pull troops out of the country.
“I don't know who said that. But we'll make a determination on that,” Trump told reporters in response to a question whether he had said he would withdraw American troops from Syria.
“We're not involved in Syria. Syria's its own mess… They don't need us involved,” he added.
The US has recently upped its presence of troops in Syria from 900 to around 2,000 after a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8. It has explained the surge in numbers as a temporary measure to prevent ISIS from gaining a foothold in the country.
US forces in Syria are the primary backers of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which territorially defeated ISIS in 2019 and ended a five-year so-called “caliphate” of the group, two years after they were defeated in neighboring Iraq.
SDF chief Mazloum Abdi has repeatedly warned against the withdrawal of US troops.
“I don't know who said that. But we'll make a determination on that,” Trump told reporters in response to a question whether he had said he would withdraw American troops from Syria.
“We're not involved in Syria. Syria's its own mess… They don't need us involved,” he added.
The US has recently upped its presence of troops in Syria from 900 to around 2,000 after a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8. It has explained the surge in numbers as a temporary measure to prevent ISIS from gaining a foothold in the country.
US forces in Syria are the primary backers of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which territorially defeated ISIS in 2019 and ended a five-year so-called “caliphate” of the group, two years after they were defeated in neighboring Iraq.
SDF chief Mazloum Abdi has repeatedly warned against the withdrawal of US troops.