US troops sit atop an armoured vehicle on a road near the northern Syrian village of Ain Issa. (AFP)
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration will withdraw assistance from northwest Syria dominated by Islamist factions and focus recovery efforts on areas where US-led forces have retaken territory from Daesh in the northeast, US officials with knowledge of the decision said on Friday.
“US assistance for programs in northwest Syria are being freed up to provide potential increased support for priorities in northeast Syria,” a State Department official told Reuters.
Trump said in March that it was time for the United States to leave Syria, following allied victories against Daesh militants. About 2,000 US troops are deployed in Syria.
In April, however, Trump deepened US involvement by ordering missile strikes against Syria in response to a poison gas attack that killed dozens of people.
A third US official said the cuts in the northwest would take place over a period of months.
“The danger is a repeat of what the president criticized about Iraq — leaving a vacuum where the violence can get worse and extremists can exploit that,” the official added.
The Pentagon has estimated that Daesh has lost about 98 percent of the territory it held in Iraq and Syria, US military officials have warned that the militants could regain the freed areas quickly unless they are stabilized.
Israel shells positions in southern Syria
There was no comment from Syria or Israel on the report
19.05.2018
QUNEITRA, Syria
Israeli tanks in Syria’s Golan Heights on Saturday shelled positions in southern Syria, according to local sources.
The shelling targeted the village of Tulul al-Humur, south of Quneitra, the sources said.
Meanwhile, explosions were heard in Deir Ez-zour military airport in eastern Syria.
No further reports were available about casualties.
Local sources in the area said the explosions were believed to have been caused by Israeli attacks in the area.
There was no comment from Syria or Israel on the report.
Tension has been running high along Syrian-Israeli border amid Israeli accusations for group of building up a military presence in war-torn Syria.
Iran are strong allies of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad regime, the forces of which have been fighting opposition groups in a deadly civil war since 2011.
Since then, hundreds of thousands of people are believed to have been killed and millions more displaced by the conflict.
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...-attacks-since-truce-rebels-say-idUSKCN1GO1F8
March 12, 2018 / 5:46 PM / 2 months ago
FSA factions were already mobilising fighters for a possible wider showdown.
“I can say all the factions in the south are in a state of full readiness and alertness with all their equipment and fighting force,” said Khaled al-Faraj, the commander of a rebel group operating in Quneitra province.
Moscow counts on Amman to put pressure on mainstream FSA groups that operate in southern Syria to maintain the truce while Jordan lobbies Russia to put pressure on the Syrian army not to wreck the de-escalation zone.
Jordan and Washington have also pressed Moscow to remove Iranian-backed forces from areas along the southwest border as part of the ceasefire in southern Syria and stop Israel from attacking American backed rebels of FSA.
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