US withdrawal from Syria risks boosting Russia, Iran influence: Merkel
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned on Saturday that Washington’s plan to swiftly pull its soldiers out of Syria risks allowing Russia and Iran to boost their role in the region.
Daesh militants have been boxed in to a scrap of land in the battle for their last remaining territory in northeastern Syria and their final defeat is expected imminently.
Once they are defeated, US forces are set to soon withdraw after President Donald Trump in December announced the pullout of around 2,000 troops.
But Washington is struggling to convince allies to stay on in Syria after it leaves and Merkel warned of the risks of leaving a vacuum in the region.
“Is it a good idea for the Americans to suddenly and quickly withdraw from Syria? Or will it once more strengthen the capacity of Iran and Russia to exert their influence?” Merkel said at the Munich Security Conference.
Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan on Friday pledged ongoing backing for the fight against Daesh — but kept allies guessing as to how that would be achieved once US forces pull out, and won no solid pledges of support.
Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said the US had told partners in the global anti-Daesh coalition that its soldiers would leave in “weeks rather than months.”
The decision has stunned allies including France, which contributes artillery and about 1,200 forces in the region, including soldiers who train Iraqi troops.
French Foreign Minister JeanYves Le Drian asked why the US would create a vacuum in Syria that could benefit its enemy Iran, calling the approach a “mystery.”
A French government source told AFP it was “totally out of the question” to have French troops on the ground without US forces.
Victory in few days
Meanwhile, Kurdish-led forces said on Saturday they were holding up the announcement of final victory over the Daesh group for “a few days” because the large number of civilians remaining on the battlefield had forced a delay.
Trump had said on Friday that he expected the eradication of the “caliphate” that Daesh proclaimed in 2014 to be announced within 24 hours.
But spokesmen for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the surprise discovery of so many civilians still inside the militants’ last enclave had forced commanders to slow the advance.
Daesh is now reduced to a tiny pocket where its militants and civilians still under their control are holed up in tunnels, the assault’s overall commander Jia Furat told a news conference.
“In a very short time, not longer than a few days, we will officially announce the end” of Daesh’s existence, Furat said.
Advancing SDF fighters have been met by “large numbers” of civilians, to the surprise of commanders who had thought the exodus of recent days had emptied the remaining Daesh pocket of all but diehard militants, SDF spokesmen said.
Women and children who had endured appalling conditions inside the remaining enclave were emerging from tunnels and foxholes beneath the battlefield.
“There are still civilians inside in large numbers,” SDF spokesman Adnan Afrin told AFP at the main staging point for frontline forces.
“We weren’t expecting this number, otherwise we wouldn’t have resumed the campaign four days ago. This is why it’s been delayed,” Afrin said.