Baladi News
U.S. troops have been fighting Islamic State militants in Syria for four years and will remain in eastern portions of the war-torn country until American leaders are convinced the terrorist group cannot mount a return, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday.
For now, ISIS remains the sole focus for the roughly 2,000 American troops in Syria, whose objectives include aiding Syrian Democratic Forces in defeating the terrorist group and training local security forces to protect areas already purged of the group, Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon.
It was a similar refrain from the defense chief who has long insisted U.S. troops were only in Syria to face down ISIS.
“Our troops are there for that one purpose right now,” Mattis said of the fight against ISIS. “We obviously have got to train up local security forces, so that ISIS and others … cannot get in. That’s part of the defeat of ISIS.”
But his comments followed statements by National Security Adviser John Bolton that American forces had other roles in Syria.
Earlier Monday, Bolton told The Associated Press that American troops would remain in Syria as long as Iranian-controlled forces were in the country propping up Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose forces have been locked in a seven-year civil war also backed by Russia.
“We’re not going to leave as long as Iranian troops are outside Iranian borders and that includes Iranian proxies and militias,” Bolton said.
Source: Stripes