U.S. plans 'full', 'rapid' troop withdrawal from Syria

World
Europe

The U.S. is planning for a "full" and "rapid" withdrawal of troops from Syria, according to U.S. media reports citing Trump administration officials.

There has been no official confirmation so far.

The U.S. has defeated the ISIL in Syria, President Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday, adding that it was the only reason he had kept troops in the country.

"We have defeated ISIL in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Such a decision, if confirmed, would upend assumptions about a longer-term U.S. military presence in Syria, which U.S. defense secretary James Mattis and other senior U.S. officials had advocated to help ensure ISIL cannot reemerge.

Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S. troops are seen during a patrol near the Turkish border in Hasakah, Syria, ‍November 4, 2018. /Reuters Photo

The timing of the withdrawal was not immediately clear and U.S. officials who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity did not disclose details about the deliberations, including who was involved. It was unclear how soon a decision could be announced.

The Pentagon and the White House declined to comment.

The U.S. still has about 2,000 troops in Syria, many of them are special operations forces working closely with an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias known as the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.

The deliberations on U.S. troops come as Ankara threatens a new offensive in Syria. To date, U.S. forces in Syria have been seen as a stabilizing factor in the country and have somewhat restrained Turkey's actions against the SDF.

A complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria would still leave a sizeable U.S. military presence in the region, including about 5,200 troops across the border in Iraq.