Around 2,000 US forces are in the country, most of them on a train-and-advise mission to support local forces fighting IS. - 'We've won' -Trump on Wednesday abruptly ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 US soldiers, mainly special forces, deployed in northeastern Syria, in a short video posted on Twitter. Trump did not address the air campaign, in which the United States and partner nations including France and Britain have spent years pounding IS targets across the country. Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said the US would continue its air war while American soldiers were in Syria -- but would not say if the campaign would continue afterward. Speaking in Moscow during his annual news conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the US withdrawal, saying Trump was "right" to do so.

Source: Bangkok Post December 20, 2018 16:30 UTC