US military plans to keep 1,000 troops in Syria: report

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. military plans to keep roughly half of its 2,000 troops stationed in Syria following a withdrawal President Donald Trump described in December as immediate and complete, according to a report published Sunday.

Ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and close NATO allies over a potential safe zone in northeastern Syria -- a key element of Trump's departure plan -- have yet to lead to a conclusive agreement. And the U.S. is now seeking to continue its cooperation with the YPG-led SDF despite Turkey's warnings that it will conduct a cross-border operation against the PKK's Syrian offshoot, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the U.S. and Turkey.

That could lead to as many as 1,000 American troops remaining in northeastern Syria, the newspaper reported citing anonymous American officials.

U.S. partners forces are currently fighting the Daesh terrorist group in its last remaining bastion in Baghouz, Syria, and after the battle the U.S. is expecting to begin withdrawing "hundreds" of troops, according to the journal.

The White House announced in February that the administration is planning to keep roughly 200 American troops in northeastern Syria as part of an international peacekeeping force, in addition to 200 troops that were supposed to be used to secure a garrison at a strategic Syrian border town.

But the number of troops being reported is more than double the total previously expected to remain in Syria.

A military official told the journal that the White House's numbers "had no basis in military planning."

A senior official called the U.S. withdrawal "substantial," but stressed final force figures "are neither determined nor approved."

Trump's abrupt decision to withdraw U.S. forces from Syria was met with significant pushback by close allies in Europe and among some of Trump's closest legislative supporters on Capitol Hill.