U.S. troops withdrawing from northeastern Syria to Iraq are “transiting” and will leave the country within four weeks, Iraq’s defense minister said Wednesday. AdvertisementEsper said earlier on Wednesday that the U.S. has no plans to leave those troops in Iraq “interminably” and that he plans to talk with Iraqi leaders about the matter. The pullout largely abandons the Kurdish allies who have fought Islamic State alongside U.S. troops for several years. The U.S. currently has more than 5,000 American forces in Iraq, under an agreement between the two countries. America’s former U.S. allies, the Kurdish fighters, are left hoping Moscow and Damascus will preserve some pieces of Syrian Kurdish autonomy in the region.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 23, 2019 09:13 UTC