America announces continued support for Kurds in Syria: our relationship is strong

Shafaq News/ A senior Pentagon official announced that the United States wants to continue cooperating with Kurdish fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in fighting ISIS, despite leaving them facing Turkey.

"We will see what kind of support we can continue to provide to SDF even if we no longer have troops in northern Syria," the senior official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

A week ago, the Turkish army launched an offensive against the People's Protection Units (YPG), the backbone of Syria's democratic forces, after US forces withdrew and left them facing their fate with Ankara, seeking to distance it from Turkey's southern border because it considers it as a terrorist organization.

In light of the Turkish attack, the United States announced the withdrawal of all its troops from northeast Syria, numbering about one thousand soldiers, and the retention of about 150 US soldiers deployed at al-Tanf base in southern Syria, on the border with Jordan.

"We will maintain in al-Tanf site, which will probably allow us to continue this mission in the south," the senior Pentagon official said.

"The SDF has been an important partner, and I think they have indicated their willingness to continue fighting against ISIS in Syria," he added.

"I think there will be talks about how we can help them continue the fighting in Syria."

In response to a question about the lack of confidence of Kurdish fighters in the United States after they abandoned them and left them up to face Turkey, the Pentagon official said that relations between the Kurds and the US military is still strong enough to continue cooperation between the parties.

"We continue to communicate at a very high level and have very strong ties with the US military. I think we can maintain that relationship,” he added