SYRIAL: Trump slows down troop withdrawal

US President Donald Trump has said the abrupt withdrawal of US troops from Syria he announced earlier this month will be carried out “slowly”. “We’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants,” he tweeted on Monday. His clarification confirmed remarks by Republican Senator […]

US President Donald Trump has said the abrupt withdrawal of US troops from Syria he announced earlier this month will be carried out “slowly”.

“We’re slowly sending our troops back home to be with their families, while at the same time fighting ISIS remnants,” he tweeted on Monday.

His clarification confirmed remarks by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham.

When Mr Trump first announced the move, he had said: “They’re all coming back and they’re coming back now.”

The development had shocked US allies and American defence officials alike, with Defence Secretary Jim Mattis and a top US official in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, Brett McGurk, resigning soon after.

America’s Kurdish allies on the ground in north-east Syria have been left feeling exposed as Turkey, which regards them as terrorists, appears poised to move against them.