ANKARA: America will scale down its army presence in Syria to at least one base from eight and US insurance policies will shift within the nation “as a result of none of them labored” during the last century, the brand new US particular envoy has stated.
Thomas Barrack, who President Donald Trump named particular envoy final month shortly after he unexpectedly lifted US sanctions on Syria, made the feedback in an interview with Turkish broadcaster NTV late on Monday (Jun 2).
The US army has about 2,000 US troops in Syria, largely within the northeast. They’re working with native forces to forestall a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized massive swathes of Iraq and Syria however was later pushed again.
Since rebels ousted Syria’s former President Bashar al-Assad in December, the US and different international locations are re-engaging with Damascus underneath new chief Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Barrack, additionally US ambassador to Turkey, raised the American flag over the ambassador’s residence in Damascus final week for the primary time since 2012.
When requested how the Trump administration will form its Syria coverage and whether or not the US is contemplating troop withdrawal from Syria, Barrack stated: “What I can guarantee you is that our present Syria coverage is not going to be near the Syria coverage of the final 100 years, as a result of none of those have labored.”
Lowering the variety of bases to at least one from eight was an vital a part of that shift, he stated, in accordance with an interview transcript.
Two safety sources in bases the place US troops are deployed informed Reuters in April that army gear and automobiles had already moved out of japanese Deir el-Zor and have been being consolidated within the province of Hasakah.
