Sights set on home
US troops’ planned Syrian exit is just weeks away
THE US hopes to begin withdrawing ground troops from Syria within weeks.
US Army General Joseph Votel, head of the US central command in the Middle East, said the exact timing would depend on the situation in the war-torn nation, where fighters are locked in a final assault against Islamic State enclaves close to the Iraq border.
Yesterday Us-backed Syrian forces captured 41 positions held by IS militants and destroyed their fortifications in the last tiny pocket they hold in eastern Syria.
The US military has already started withdrawing equipment from Syria. Asked whether the withdrawal of f America’s more than 2000 0 troops would begin in days or r weeks, Gen Votel said: “Prob- ably weeks. But again, it will all be driven by the situation n on the ground.
“In terms of the withdrawal … I think we’re right on track with where we wanted to be. Moving people is easier than moving equipment and so what we’re trying to do right now is again (to) kind of clear out those materials, that equipment, that we do not need.”
US President Donald Trump’s surprise announcement in December that he was withdrawing troops from Syria S i h helped l trigger the resignation of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and sent US military officials scrambling to construct a withdrawal plan that preserves as many gains as possible. Hundreds of ad- ditional troops have been sent to Syria to help the withdrawal.
US officials have long estimated that the Syria pullout could take until some time in March or April to execute fully, but have been reluctant to set an exact timeline.
Mr Trump predicted last week that IS would lose all the territory it once controlled in Iraq and Syria within the next few days.
That would mark the end of a four-year global war to end the extremist group’s territorial hold over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
US officials have said in recent weeks that IS has lost 99.5 per cent of its territory and is restricted to a small pocket of Syria.
But activists and residents say IS still has sleeper cells in Syria and Iraq, and is laying groundwork for insurgency.