SpaceWar.com - Your World At War
Anti-IS coalition 'has job to finish' despite US withdrawal: France
Paris, Dec 21 (AFP) Dec 21, 2018
The international coalition fighting Islamic State (IS) in Syria "has a job to finish" despite US President Donald Trump's "very serious" decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, the French defence minister said Friday.

"The decision taken by the US president changes things pretty radically," Florence Parly told RTL radio.

"President Trump says Daesh (an alternative name for IS) is dead, but we believe today that while the territory controlled by the caliphate is no longer what it was in 2014 (...) if it has been reduced to near nothing, there remains however a pocket where jihadists have bunkered down," she said.

"We consider that the job must be finished," she said, adding that failing to do so could mean IS groups might regroup.

Parly also suggested that implementing the withdrawal of 2,000 US soldiers from Syria should be discussed amongst the allied coalition, adding that "you can't withdraw troops from one day to another".

France has aircraft in the region, along with long-range artillery in position along the Iraqi-Syrian border.

Washington says France has also deployed special forces inside Syria, though France has never acknowledged this.


ADVERTISEMENT




Space News from SpaceDaily.com
Perseverance rover cleared for long distance Mars exploration
Possible "superkilonova" exploded not once but twice
Origami style lunar rover wheel expands to climb steep caves

24/7 Energy News Coverage
The Quantum Age will be Powered by Fusion
Physicists map axion production paths inside deuterium tritium fusion reactors
Hybrid excitons speed ultrafast energy transfer at 2D organic interface

Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
SDA expands Tracking Layer satellite awards and related missile defense contracts
Space Systems Command activates System Delta 80 for assured space access
Rheinmetall ICEYE Space Solutions to provide SAR reconnaissance data to German military

24/7 News Coverage
Philosopher argues AI consciousness may remain unknowable
Climate driven model explores Neanderthal and modern human overlap in Iberia
Economic losses from natural disasters down by a third in 2025: Swiss Re



All rights reserved. Copyright Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.