All of the nearly 1, 000US troops withdrawing from northern Syriawill head to western Iraq to continue the campaign against Islamic State militants, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Saturday.
U.S. forces have been pulling out of northern Syria amid growing chaos afterTurkey invaded the region earlier this month.
President Donald Trump said he would withdraw US troops who’d been protecting Kurdish areas out of the way of the Turkish advance, promptingcriticism both domestically and abroad.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading a congressional delegation to the region this weekend.
Kurds withdraw as US troops head to Iraq
Esper told reporters en route to the Middle East Saturday that the U.S.
He said the mission for those troops would be to “help defend Iraq” and carry out a counter-ISIS mission. It is unclear whether the U.S. troops moving to Iraq will use it as a base to launch ground raids into Syria.
The additional U.S. troops would add to the more than 5, 000 American troops already based in the country.
Vice President Mike Pence announced a five-day cease-fire in northern Syria Thursday after Turkey agreed to temporarily halt its offensive to allow time for Kurdish fighters to withdraw deeper into Syria.
Esper said Saturday that the fragile cease-fire was generally holding.
” We see a stabilization of the lines if you will on the ground. And we do get reports of intermittent fires, this and that. That doesn’t surprise me necessarily, “he added.
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Turkey said Sundaythat it was closely monitoring the Kurdish retreat, claiming there “are absolutely no impediments to withdrawal.”
Ankara’s defense ministry added that information about which roads can be used safely was transmitted to US military authorities. It also claimed one soldier was killed amid sporadic clashes with Kurdish fighters.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Saturday that Turkey was in violation of the cease-fire and was not allowing the opening of a safe corridor to evacuate the wounded and civilians.
NBC News could not verify the claims.
A top Kurdish general told NBC News he fears the Turkish campaign in Syria will result in “ethnic cleansing.”
Gen. Mazloum Kobani, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said that the U.S. bears full responsibility for what is happening.
“We trusted them for five years and the continuing war against ISIS, but now [there is] ethnic cleansing against the Kurdish people under their eyes. If they wanted, they would have interfered to stop it. ”
The Kurds, a loyal ally in America’s fight against ISIS for years, have claimed Trump’s actions amounted to a betrayal.
But the president has been steadfast about his decision to withdraw US troops from the area, arguing that it was time for the U.S. to stop fighting “endless wars” abroad.
He has also bragged about the cease-fire the U.S.
“Think of how many lives we saved in Syria and Turkey,”the president said on Twitter late Friday. “Thousands and thousands, and maybe many more!”
Pelosi in Jordan to talk Syria
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi angrily walked out of a White House meeting Wednesday after she claimed Trump hada “meltdown” after contentious exchanges over Syria. It came as the Housevoted overwhelminglyto condemn Trump’s withdrawal.
Pelosi led a bipartisan congressional delegation to Jordan Saturday to discuss the “deepening crisis.”
“Our delegation has engaged in vital discussions about the impact to regional stability, increased flow of refugees, and the dangerous opening that has been provided to ISIS, Iran and Russia, ”Pelosi said in a statement.
The delegation included House Intel Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. Mac Thornberry, a Republican and the ranking member on the House Armed Services Committee.
Turkey’s invasion has prompted fears of an ISIS resurgence and a worsening of the ongoing humanitarian crisis.
It has also seen Russia and forces of Syria’s embattled President Bashar Assadmake gainsin the region after the US
Turkish troops are fighting the Syrian Democratic Forces, which are led by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). Turkey views the YPG as an extension of the separatist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is considered a terrorist group by the United States.
President Erdogan said Saturday that Turkey would press on with its offensive and “crush the heads of terrorists” if a deal with Washington on the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters from the area was not fully implemented.
Richard Engel, Mac William Bishop, Alex Moe and Marc Smith
contributed.
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