The Pentagon has said that the order for the withdrawal of US troops from Syria has been signed following President Donald Trump’s December 19 announcement setting out plans for a full pullout.
“The execute order for Syria has been signed,” a spokesperson for the US military was quoted by AFP as saying late on December 23 without offering further details.
CNN said a defense official confirmed to it that the ordered had been signed, and it quoted another official as saying outgoing Defense Secretary James Mattis signed it.
Trump in a Twitter video posting on December 19 declared that “we have won” against the ISIL terror group operating in Syria and made the surprise announcement he was bringing home all US forces from the war-torn country.
Trump received criticism from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, former government leaders who argued the action would undermine America’s security and give away the region to Russia, Iran, and Syria.
Trump’s surprise decision contributed to the abrupt resignation of Pentagon chief James Mattis on Thursday, who cited significant policy differences with the president as a reason for quitting.
The decision also prompted the early resignation of the US’s top envoy in the fight against ISIL, Brett McGurk, who said he would leave at the end of the year, instead of in mid-February as previously planned.
Source: Agencies
