DAMASCUS: Some US troops are leaving Syria as part of a “deliberate and conditions-based transition,” a senior US official said on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported the US was withdrawing all of its roughly 1,000 troops from Syria.
“US forces remain poised to respond to any ISIS threats that arise in the region as we support partner-led efforts to prevent the terrorist network’s resurgence,” the senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said.
“However US presence at scale is no longer required in Syria given the Syrian government’s willingness to take primary responsibility for combating the terrorist threat within its borders,” the official added.
Last week, the US military said it completed a withdrawal from a strategic base in Syria, handing it over to Syrian forces, in the latest sign of strengthening US-Syrian ties that could enable an even larger American drawdown.
