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Turkey Syria offensive: Some US troops to stay, says Trump
Last edited Tue Oct 22, 2019, 05:18 AM - Edit history (1)
US President Donald Trump says some American troops will stay on in Syria despite his call for them to be pulled out.He said a small number would protect oil fields while others would stay near Israel and Jordan.
His decision two weeks ago to withdraw US forces from the Syria-Turkey border region drew criticism even from some of his supporters.
Soon after Turkey launched an offensive against former US allies the Kurds.
The US president again defended his decision to withdraw, amid accusations he has betrayed Kurdish-led forces who have been an important partner in the battle against Islamic State.
"Why should we put our soldiers in the midst of two large groups, hundreds of thousands potentially of people, that are fighting? I don't think so," he said. "I got elected on bringing our soldiers back home."
Read more (Includes videos): https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-50134430
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But Mr Trump also said the US had been asked by Israel and Jordan to leave a small number of troops in "a totally different section of Syria".
In another part of the country he said US forces were needed to "secure the oil".
There are around 200,000 US troops deployed in conflict areas around the world, despite Mr Trump's promise to bring them home.
