[US Military Aircraft 19 Reuters]-US Secretary of Defense Esper revealed on the 19th that he plans to relocate about 1000 US troops being withdrawn from northern Syria to western Iraq. He explained that he would continue to fight the extremist organization “Islamic State” (IS) and “to help defend Iraq”.
He told reporters on his way to the Middle East. “We are quickly pursuing the withdrawal of US troops from northern Syria. It takes weeks instead of days”.
On the other hand, he pointed out that Turkey, which started cross-border military operations in northern Syria, agreed with US Vice President Pence on the 17th to stop the military operations for five days. . Although there were reports of intermittent attacks, they expressed recognition that “not necessarily surprised me”.