Residual US forces will remain inside northeast Syria even after President Donald Trump formally announced yesterday that an estimated 1,000 US service members would be withdrawn from the Kurdish-controlled zone, sources linked to the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) told Al-Monitor today. At least three sources said that “some” US forces would redeploy southeast of the town of Manbij. One of the sources said they would be stationed around the Tishreen Dam. The claim could not be independently confirmed.
Reports of a redeployment follow the first-ever telephone call between Trump and SDF commander Mazlum Kobane. The sources did not elaborate on whether Trump had signed off on a residual force in that conversation. But a source close to Kobane said that after the phone call, “He sounded more relaxed than he has in the past days."
