Trump expected to decide on future of US troops in Syria soon: Kurdish official

WASHINGTON DC -  A Kurdish official from northeast Syria (Rojava) said on Tuesday that US President Donald Trump is expected to decide on the future of US troops in Syria in the coming days, adding that Kurds have sent many letters urging Trump to keep troops in Rojava.

“According to what we hear from the media, some say that the people around Trump want to withdraw troops from Syria. But Trump has yet to make a decision in this regard. He has said that he would make a decision later. I expect him to make a decision on Syria in the coming days,” Sinam Mohamad, a Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) representative to the US, told Rudaw. 

SDC is the political wing of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) - de facto army of Rojava.

“This is very important for us. We have sent them many letters that we want the US troops to remain in northeast Syria (Rojava) until we reach a solution for all Syria. This is very important for us, and we hope that this [US presence in Syria] will continue,” she added. 

The US has recently upped its presence of troops in Syria from 900 to around 2,000 after a coalition of rebels led by the Islamist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) ousted Bashar al-Assad’s regime on December 8.

Trump said on Thursday that a "determination" will be made regarding American troops in Syria, but did not provide further details. He denied previously stating that he would pull troops out of the country.

“I don't know who said that. But we'll make a determination on that,” Trump told reporters in response to a question whether he had said he would withdraw American troops from Syria. 

“We're not involved in Syria. Syria's its own mess… They don't need us involved,” he added. 

Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Monday that Trump would make a "mistake" if he decides to withdraw troops from Rojava, adding that Kurds are essential to prevent the resurgence of ISIS. 

US forces in Syria are the primary backers of the SDF, which territorially defeated ISIS in 2019 and ended a five-year so-called “caliphate” of the group, two years after they were defeated in neighboring Iraq.