France will keep its troops in war-ravaged country after US announced a withdrawal of its forces
France will keep troops in northern Syria for now because Islamic State militants have not been wiped out, contrary to the US view, and has started talks with the United States on the conditions and calendar of its withdrawal, officials said.
France is a leading member of the US-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq and has around 1,000 troops including special forces based in the north of the country, deployed alongside local Kurdish and Arab forces.
French diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all 2,000 US troops from the region had taken Paris by surprise. US officials justified the decision by saying Islamic State had been defeated.
“It shows that we can have different priorities and that we must count on ourselves first,” Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau told C-News television. “For now, of course we are staying in Syria because the fight against Islamic State is essential.
