Baladi News
The United States should keep arming and aiding the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) following the planned US withdrawal from Syria, provided the group keeps up the pressure on Daesh, a senior US general told Reuters on Friday.
The recommendation by Army General Joseph Votel, who oversees US forces in the Middle East as head of Central Command, is one of the strongest signs yet of US military hopes for an enduring partnership with the SDF despite the concerns of NATO ally Turkey, which says Kurdish SDF fighters are terrorists.
“As long as they are fighting against ISIS and continue to keep pressure on them, I think it would seem to me to be in our interest to continue to provide the means for them to do that,” Votel said in an interview, using an acronym for Daesh.
Asked about Votel’s remarks, a White House official did not comment on future assistance to the SDF but reaffirmed the Trump administration’s commitment to the broader anti-Daesh coalition.
Source: Middle East Monitor.