Baladi News
The United States will end its military support to the Kurdish led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighting IS if it allies with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or Russia, a senior US general threatened on Sunday.
The threat was issued Monday by Army Lieutenant General Paul LaCamera, commander of the US led coalition in Syria.
The comments illustrate the difficulties facing the SDF as the US prepares to withdraw its troops by April.
LaCamera said "No" outright when asked if the US would continue to support the SDF if it allied with Assad, Reuters reported.
"Once that relationship is severed, because they go back to the regime, which we don’t have a relationship with, (or) the Russians ... when that happens then we will no longer be partners with them," LaCamera told a small group of reporters.
He warned that US law prohibits cooperation with Russia as well as Assad and said "we will continue to train and arm them as long as they remain our partners".
Syrian Kurdish leaders hope to safeguard their autonomous region after all of the more than 2,000 US troops withdraw. The SDF fear hostilities from neighbouring Turkey, which has threatened to attack the Kurdish fighters it deems as terrorists.
Source: The New Arab.