Pentagon declares ‘conditions-based’ presence in Syria

Rasa - The US military forces are poised to stay in war-ravaged Syria for “as long as we need to,” says a Pentagon official.

News ID: 435165

Date: 06 December 2017 - 21:00

RNA - "We are going to maintain our commitment on the ground as long as we need to, to support our partners and prevent the return of terrorist groups," Pentagon spokesman Eric Pahon told AFP on Tuesday.

The Department of Defense spokesman on Iraq and Syria also repeated Washington’s stance that the US and its allies are fighting the Daesh Takfiri group there.

Pahon further announced that there would be no timeline to determine if and when they may leave as their presence is "conditions-based."

"To ensure an enduring defeat of ISIS, the coalition must ensure it cannot regenerate, reclaim lost ground, or plot external attacks," he said. "This is essential to the protection of our homeland as well as to defend our allies and partners.... The United States will sustain a conditions-based military presence in Syria to combat the threat of a terrorist-led insurgency, prevent the resurgence of ISIS, and to stabilize liberated areas."

The US-led coalition of 68 nations has been conducting airstrikes against what are said to be Daesh targets inside Syria since September 2014 without any authorization from the Damascus government or a UN mandate. Such air raids began in Iraq in August of the same year.

The military alliance has repeatedly been accused of targeting and killing civilians.

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