The United States will reduce the number of troops it has deployed in Syria from around 2,000 to less than 1,000 in the coming months, the Pentagon said on Friday.
“Today the secretary of defense directed the consolidation of US forces in Syria… to select locations,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
“This deliberate and conditions-based process will bring the US footprint in Syria down to less than 1,000 US forces in the coming months,” he said.
Stressing that in the last 10 years, the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS has made “major gains,” Parnell said US Central Command (CENTCOM) launched dozens of airstrikes in the last year to further degrade the capabilities of Daesh/ISIS.
CENTCOM will “remain poised to continue strikes against the remnants of ISIS in Syria,” he said, adding the US will work with coalition partners to maintain pressure on the terror group.
The Pentagon continues to maintain a “significant amount of capability in the region and the ability to make dynamic force posture adjustments based on evolving security situations on the ground,” he stressed.
US President Donald Trump said in late January that the US “will make a determination” on troops in Syria following a report that said he intends to withdraw American forces.
“I don’t know who said that, but we’ll make a determination on that,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’re not involved in Syria. Syria is in its own mess. They’ve got enough messes over there. They don’t need us involved.”