Syria departure begins as Pompeo reassures Kurds

Withdrawal under way despite resignations

The US-led military coalition has begun the process of withdrawing from Syria, an American military official has said.

Colonel Sean Ryan, spokesman for the coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group, said the US had started “the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria”.

“Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troop movements,” he said in a statement.

An official said the equipment withdrawal is under way and an unspecified number of additional US troops have been moved into Syria to assist with the withdrawal process

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria through a network of activists on the ground, said the withdrawal began on Thursday night.

It said a convoy of about 10 armoured vehicles and some trucks pulled out from Syria’s north-eastern town of Rmeilan into Iraq.

Confirmation of the first withdrawals comes amid confusion over plans to implement US President Donald Trump’s pullout order and threats from Turkey to attack the Kurds, who have been America’s partners on the ground in the war against the IS in Syria.

There are 2,000 US troops in Syria. Mr Trump’s abrupt decision in December to pull them out, declaring in a tweet the defeat of the IS, sent shockwaves across the region and led to the resignation of US defence minister James Mattis.

It also led to major criticism that the US was

“We will not discuss specific timelines or locations”

abandoning its Kurdish allies amid Turkish threats of an imminent attack.

On Sunday, US national security adviser John Bolton said American troops will not leave northeastern Syria until the IS is defeated and American-allied Kurdish fighters are protected.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also sought to reassure the Kurds that they will be safe after US troops withdraw from the country.

“It’s important that we do everything we can to ensure that those folks that fought with us are protected,” Mr Pompeo said of the Kurds while visiting Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, after talks in Baghdad.

Russia’s foreign ministry said the Americans are not serious about withdrawing.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it appears to Moscow that the US “is looking for a reason to stay”.