SDF spokesman Farhad Shami made the feedback hours after US media reported on the plan. The armed group – a key ally of the US-led coalition preventing ISIL (ISIS) within the area – controls a big swath of northeast Syria, accounting for about one-third of Syria’s territory.
“In fact, ISIS and different malicious forces are ready for the chance of the US withdrawal to reactivate and attain the state of 2014,” Shami mentioned.
Hours earlier, NBC Information reported, citing two unnamed Pentagon sources, that the administration of US President Donald Trump is drawing up plans to withdraw US troops from Syria in both 30, 60 or 90 days.
Trump was straight requested in regards to the prospect of withdrawing troops final week, saying his administration would “make a dedication on that”.
“Syria is its personal mess. They bought sufficient messes over there. They don’t want us concerned in each one,” he added.
Trump, who regularly vows an “America First” international coverage predicated on ending US navy engagement overseas, initially pushed for withdrawing US troops from Syria throughout his first time period from 2017 to 2021.
He deserted the plan amid pushback from inside his personal administration, with officers warning of a backslide within the anti-ISIL battle and the implications of abandoning Kurdish allies within the area.
However hypothesis over the way forward for US troops in Syria once more grew following the toppling of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December by a insurgent coalition spearheaded by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) insurgent group. HTS chief Ahmed al-Sharaa has since develop into the interim chief of Syria.
Within the wake of al-Assad’s ousting, former US President Joe Biden’s administration remained adamant that US forces would stay in Syria to forestall a resurgence of ISIL, which managed giant parts of Syria earlier than its territorial defeat in 2019.
In December, the Pentagon mentioned about 2,000 US navy personnel stay in Syria. The quantity is a major improve from the roughly 900 troops Washington had mentioned have been there lately. The US first deployed troops to Syria in 2014.
For its half, the Trump administration has publicly vowed to proceed to focus on ISIL fighters throughout the area. Analysts have additionally warned {that a} blanket freeze on international support has lower some administrative and safety funding to Kurdish fighters overseeing ISIL jail camps in Syria, additional risking instability.
