ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The United States plans to send some 100 soldiers and six Bradley Fighting Vehicles to northeast Syria (Rojava) in what is meant to be a “clear signal” to Russia to avoid provocative actions, according to a US official.
The unnamed official told NBC News on Friday that the Pentagon is deploying fewer than 100 troops to Syria within 90 days, as a response to recent confrontations with Russian forces in Rojava.
"These actions and reinforcements are a clear signal to Russia to adhere to mutual de-confliction processes and for Russia and other parties to avoid unprofessional, unsafe and provocative actions in northeast Syria," said the official.
The official added that six Bradley Fighting Vehicles, designed to safely transport infantry, would also be deployed in the same time period.
The US recently claimed that their forces and their domestic partner, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have come under fire by Syrian regime and Russian forces.
In one skirmish that took place in late August, Russian military vehicles sideswiped US military vehicles in Rojava, injuring seven US soldiers. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Jonathan Hoffman described the incident as “deliberately provocative and aggressive behavior" by the Russians.
The deployment of troops was not mentioned in a Friday press release from the spokesperson for the Global Coalition Against Daesh (ISIS), which only confirmed the deployment of the Bradley vehicles.
Spokesperson Col. Wayne Marotto said deployment of the Bradleys would “ensure the protection of Coalition forces and preserve their freedom of movement so they may continue Defeat Daesh operations safely.”
ISIS controlled swathes of Iraqi and Syrian lands in summer 2014 but it was announced territorially defeated in both countries in December 2017 and March 2019, respectively. But “despite the territorial defeat of ISIS, the degradation of its leadership, and the widespread refutation of its ideology, this violent Islamist group still poses a threat. Unless pressure on Daesh is maintained, its reemergence remains a very real possibility,” Marotto said.
The US withdrew half of its roughly 1,000 troops in northern Syria in October 2019, according to a Department of Defense report covering the last quarter of that year, in response to Turkey’s launch of Operation Peace Spring against the SDF.
In a separate press release, Marotto said that the last repositioning of Bradleys in Syria was in October 2019 “to partner with Syrian Democratic Forces to defeat Daesh remnants, protect critical infrastructure and deny Daesh access to revenue sources.”
Former US presidential envoy to Syria Brett McGurk criticized the deployment of the Bradleys, calling it a “sign of deterioration.”
“I used to help coordinate this mission. We never needed Bradleys to secure our personnel. Trump’s impetuous decision to abandon our posts has placed our people at heightened risk with no clear aim,” McGurk said on Friday.
