The U.S. is withdrawing its forces from northeast Syria as Turkey's military operation targeting America's Kurdish allies there continues to expand, according to a senior U.S. official.
The U.S. is withdrawing its forces from northeast Syria as Turkey's military operation targeting America's Kurdish allies there continues to expand, according to a senior U.S. official.
"Now what we're facing is U.S. forces trapped between a Syrian-Russia army moving north to take on the Turkish army that is moving south," Esper said."It puts us in a terrible position. And the protection, safety of our service members comes first to me." One week ago, the White House announced it was moving fewer than 50 American forces away from the Turkey-Syria border after a phone call between Trump and Turkish President Erdogan. That decision drew backlash from Republican and Democratic lawmakers who charged the Trump administration with abandoning America's Kurdish allies and green-lighting a Turkish invasion of Syria.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the violence continues to escalate with Turkish-backed militias carrying out brutal executions along the main highway. On Saturday, a 35-year old female Kurdish politician was shot in the head by what is believed to be an al-Qaeda linked group backed by Turkey. Turkish airstrikes have also caused some SDF fighters to leave their positions guarding ISIS prison camps with reports of some ISIS fighters escaping detention. Near Ain Issa, SDF forces were forced to leave their posts at a refugee camp following a barrage of Turkish airstrikes, allowing nearly 800 ISIS women and children to flee, a senior camp official told ABC News. The Kurdish Red Crescent later confirmed that the Turkish attack caused a"large number of ISIS families" to leave.
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