The USA want to deduct more than half of their soldiers stationed in Syria. In the coming months, the US military presence in the country will be reduced to less than 1,000 soldiers, a spokesman for the US defense minister said on Friday.
There are currently around 2,000 US soldiers in Syria. They are part of an international coalition to fight the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS). The coalition was founded in 2014 to end a short -term caliphate of the jihadist militia in Syria and Iraq.
The now decided consolidation of the use in Syria takes into account the successes in the fight against IS, it said from the Pentagon. The command center of the US military (Centcom) responsible for the region could continue to carry out attacks on the remains of IS in Syria. The United States would also work closely with its allies.
“This is not our struggle”
Previously, US media had already reported on the planned partial deduction from Syria. The US military closes three of its eight small bases in the northeast of the country, reported the New York Times. The newspaper also wrote that after 60 days it should be checked whether further cuts should be made. The military commanders would have recommended to leave at least 500 US soldiers in Syria.
US President Donald Trump the US military presence in Syria has long been skeptical. Shortly before the fall of the long-time Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad in December, he said Syria was a single chaos. “This is not our struggle,” emphasized Trump. Assad was overthrown on December 8th by fighters led by the Islamist HTS militia. Since then, a transitional government under the former HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa is directing the country.
IS once dominated large areas in Syria and in neighboring Iraq. The organization has been defeated militarily, has spread internationally since then and continues to plan terrorist attacks in the west or donate to them.
