US orders 500 troops to start fighting I SIS in Syria

The ISIS has almost lost its entire territory in Syria, and American forces killed its former leader Abu Bakr al-Bagdad last month, but the group that once controlled a third of Syria and neighbouring Iraq is still seen as a threat, broadcast Telegrafi.

President Donald Trump's administration shocked US allies last December, saying Washington was withdrawing all its troops from Syria.

But it was later said that it decided to retain a remaining force in the northeastern part of the country, focusing on preventing the Islamic State from starting a return and attacking oil fields there.

Former Trump Defence Secretary James Mattis had expressed himself against the reduction of troops, telling the Washington Post at the time: If we don't keep pressure, then I The SIS will rise again.

“Now I have about 500 American troops in general east of the Euphrates River and in the northeast to Sirin”, McKenzie told reporters in the margin of the Manama Dialogue Security Summit in Bahrain.

It is our intention to stay in that position by working with our SDF partners (The Syrian Democratic Forces) to continue operations against I SIS under the Euphrates River Valley”, he added.

Turkey launched and later stopped an offensive against YPG, the main US-backed SDF component that helped the United States defeat the Islamic State, which it sees as a terrorist group linked to Kurdish militants on Turkish soil.

Moscow, the main supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, said it was also in the process of deploying more Russian military officers to the northeast of Syria, establishing civilian hospitals, distributing humanitarian aid and rebuilding infrastructure. /Telegraphy/