US military completes pullback from NE Syria – Esper

The United States has completed its military pullback in northeastern Syria, settling into a more stable posture of about 600 troops in the rest of the country after repositioning and reducing forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper has told Reuters.

The remarks could signal the end of a period of turbulence and uncertainty surrounding the US military presence in Syria after President Donald Trump’s initial withdrawal order in October. Since then, troop levels in Syria have fallen about 40 percent from around 1,000.

Esper said he retained the ability to move smaller numbers of forces in and out of Syria as needed, but suggested the number of troops will fluctuate around the 600-level for the foreseeable future.

He didn’t rule out being able to reduce US troop levels further if European allies contributed to the mission.