The United States on Monday called on other nations to repatriate and prosecute their citizens who traveled to Syria to fight with the Islamic State group and who are now being held by Washington’s local partners.
Even as the authoritarian leader consolidates control over the western part of his country, and U.S. troops reportedly prepare to depart their footholds in the east, retired U.S. Adm. James Stavridis said “Syria as a nation probably does not survive long-term in its current form.”
The United States is seeking to broker an agreement between Syrian Kurdish forces and Turkey to prevent them from going to war in northeastern Syria once American forces withdraw, a senior Kurdish official said.
About 240 airmen with the 75th Fighter Squadron, which flies A-10C Warthogs, began returning home to Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, Georgia, late Thursday after a six-month deployment in support of Operations Spartan Shield and Inherent Resolve.
ISIS' last stretch of territory has been crunched into a tiny area measuring roughly six square kilometers, according to Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.