US deploys 2,000 troops in Syria

(Dan Tri) - A Pentagon spokesman confirmed that about 2,000 US troops are deployed in Syria.

US soldiers in Syria (Photo: AFP).

"We have consistently told you that there are approximately 900 US military personnel deployed in Syria. Today I learned that, in fact, there are approximately 2,000 US military personnel in Syria," Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder told reporters on December 19.

“These forces, which are part of the mission to defeat IS, were there before the fall of the Assad regime,” Mr Ryder said, referring to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.

Mr Ryder did not specify which troops had been sent to Syria to fight IS. He described them as “a temporary rotational force deployed to meet changing mission requirements, while the core 900 personnel are on a longer-term deployment”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced on December 14 that the US has reached out to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and other opposition groups in Syria. This is the first time that the Biden administration has publicly acknowledged its contact with the Syrian opposition.

HTS has been listed as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the US since 2018, and the US has largely avoided negotiating with such groups. The UN Security Council also sanctioned HTS in 2014 for similar reasons, freezing its financial assets abroad and imposing an arms embargo on HTS.

But Mr. Blinken placed the discussion with HTS in the context of broader U.S. goals for Syria's future.

Mr Blinken also said his team had sought HTS's support for a "set of principles" that diplomats from the US, the United Nations, the European Union, Turkey and eight Arab League countries had discussed for a peaceful transition of government in Syria.

However, it is unlikely that the US will agree to lift sanctions on HTS anytime soon.

In late November, HTS and allied groups launched a major offensive and quickly overthrew President Bashar Assad's government in less than two weeks.

The opposition's policy is unclear, but its leaders have signaled that they do not want conflict, but want to focus on rebuilding the country.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-gioi/my-trien-khai-2000-quan-o-syria-20241220091812506.htm