The United States currently has approximately 2,000 troops on the ground in Syria, where they have been helping train and advise Kurdish and Arab partner forces in the fight against IS. Pentagon pressures US congress to delink LeT from Haqqani NetworkNow that the militants have been cleared from all but a few pockets of territory, the United States is assessing its future presence in the civil war-torn nation. Pahon said the US troop commitment would be “conditions-based,” meaning no timeline will determine any pull out. The open-ended US commitment in Syria will likely rile Russia, which since late 2015 has conducted a separate military campaign to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Unlike Russia, the United States is not in Syria at the request or approval of the Damascus government.

Source: The Express Tribune December 06, 2017 07:52 UTC