BALADI NEWS
The U.S. is considering keeping some troops near oil fields in northeastern Syria to protect them from being captured by Islamic State militants, Defense chief Mark Esper said Monday.
A convoy of more than 100 vehicles with U.S. troops crossed into Iraq from Syria on Monday, part of the broader withdrawal from northern Syria ordered by President Donald Trump. But Esper said that some American forces were still patrolling near the oil fields alongside Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
The Pentagon leader said no long-term decision has been made "with regard to numbers or anything like that" and no plan presented to Trump. On Sunday, Trump said on Twitter, "We have secured the oil."
Esper said, "We presently have troops in a couple of cities that [are] located right near that area. The purpose is to deny access, specifically revenue to ISIS [Islamic State] and any other groups that may want to seek that revenue to enable their own malign activities."
Trump's troop withdrawal has angered Kurds in northern Syria, where Kurdish fighters have fought alongside U.S. forces against Islamic State terrorists. But Trump said the U.S. had no stake in Turkey's offensive against the Kurdish fighters, which Ankara considers as allies with Kurdish separatists fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey for the last three decades.
Source: VOA.