CENTCOM chief not sure how long US troops to remain in Syria

By Kassem Elari

ANKARA (AA) – Commander of US Central Command (CENTCOM), Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie Jr., said he is not sure how long US troops will remain in Syria.

“I don't know how long we're going to remain in Syria,” General McKenzie said in a briefing to reporters late Friday.

“That's just not known to me. Ultimately, that'll be a policy decision that'll be made by national leadership of the United States as we go forward, based on the situation on the ground,” he added.

The CENTCOM chief said the US principal task in Syria “is to complete the defeat of Daesh/ISIS” to support the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a rebranded version of the YPG/PKK terror group, “to root out and pressure the remaining holdouts of Daesh/ISIS.”

McKenzie said there is no evidence that Russia plans to escalate the situation in Syria in response US assistance to Ukraine.

“I think they probably have plans to do that -- I'm just guessing they do; I don't know that -- but they have not chosen to do so,” he said.

He added, “We see no evidence that Russia intends to escalate in Iraq or Syria, but of course we will be prepared for that should that eventuality come about.”

*Writing by Ibrahim Mukhtar in Ankara