The administration of US President Donald Trump, which in December last year announced that it was pulling out of Syria, on Thursday said that it would keep 200 US troops in the country for now.
“A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for period of time,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
US Senator Lindsey Graham, who had criticized Trump’s decision to pull US forces out of Syria, applauded the president’s decision to leave a few hundred as part of an “international stabilizing force.”
Photo: AP
Graham said it would ensure that Turkey would not get into a conflict with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which helped the US fight Islamic State militants. Turkey views Kurdish members of the SDF as terrorists.
Moreover, Graham said that leaving a small force in Syria would serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not try to return.
“A safe zone in Syria made up of international forces is the best way to achieve our national security objectives of continuing to contain Iran, ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS, protecting our Turkish allies, and securing the Turkish border with Syria,” Graham said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.
The SDF is involved in a standoff over the final sliver of land held by the Islamic State in eastern Syria, close to the Iraq border.
It was unclear where the 200 remaining US troops would be stationed.
The US military has a limited network of bases inside Syria. Troops work mostly out of small camps in remote parts of the country’s northeast.
Also, US troops are among 200 to 300 coalition troops at a garrison in southern Syria, where they train and accompany local Syrian opposition forces on patrols to counter militants.
Trump on Thursday spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“On Syria, the two presidents agreed to continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone,” the White House said in a statement about the call.
The White House also said that Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford would host their Turkish counterparts in Washington this week for further talks.
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