Pentagon chief Esper says keeping some troops in NE Syria under discussion

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Monday that keeping some US troops in parts of northeastern Syria near oilfields with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was one of the options being discussed.

The move would ensure oil does not fall into the hands of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) or others.

“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 and any other groups that may want to seek that revenue to enable their own malign activities,” Esper told reporters in Afghanistan.

“There has been a discussion about possibly doing it [keeping some troops], there has been no decision with regard to numbers or anything like that,” Reuters quoted him as saying.