Fewer than 1,000 US troops to remain in Syria: Chairman of US Joint Chiefs

Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has said that the number of U.S. troops to remain in Syria following U.S. President Donald Trump's decision of a pullout will be fewer than 1,000. "But we're not going to go into specific numbers because we're still going through the analysis right now," Milley said in an interview.

Duvar English

Fewer than 1,000 U.S. troops will stay in Syria, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley has said, as he commented on the fight against ISIS.

"There will be less than 1,000 for sure, and probably in the 500-ish frame, maybe six [hundred]. But it's in that area. But we're not going to go into specific numbers because we're still going through the analysis right now," said Milley in an interview with ABC's "This Week" on Nov. 11, adding that the objective of defeating the jihadist group remains the same.

Pressure must be maintained on ISIS militants in the region to avoid "a very real possibility that conditions could be set for a reemergence of ISIS," he said.

Milley's remarks came a month after U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement regarding U.S. troop pullout from northern Syria.

The decision was slammed by both Republicans and Democrats due to it paving the way for Turkey to launch its long-awaited incursion into northern Syria against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - the main U.S. ally in the fight against ISIS.

Trump's announcement on Oct. 6 didn't specify the number of troops that will stay in Syria, although he repeatedly promised to "end endless wars."

Milley and other U.S. officials have been reticent to say specifically how many U.S. troops will remain in Syria as they've worked to define the U.S. mission and needs in the country.

Another development that took place after the pullout began was the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi during an overnight U.S. raid in Syria's Idlib.

"His death will have a very significant disruptive effect on the organization as a whole. They have, apparently, replaced him with another leader. We do have a considerable amount of information on that individual. And we'll see in the days ahead and the weeks ahead and the months ahead if he's able to piece together his organization or not," Milley said.

"We'll pay close attention to him and where opportunities arise, we'll go after him as well."