Feb 18 (Reuters) – Some U.S. troops are leaving Syria as part of a “deliberate and conditions-based transition,” a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported the U.S. was withdrawing all of its roughly 1,000 troops from Syria.
“U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. military said it completed a withdrawal from a strategic base in Syria, handing it over to Syrian forces, in the latest sign of strengthening U.S.-Syrian ties that could enable an even larger American drawdown.
(Reporting by Steve Holland in Washington D.C. Additional reporting by Mrinmay Dey in Mexico City, Editing by Franklin Paul and Chris Reese)
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