Key US ally in Syria: ISIS ‘has not been defeated’

The main U.S. ally in Syria on Thursday pushed back on President Trump’s claims that the Islamic State has been defeated in Syria and criticized his decision to withdraw U.S. troops.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement that ISIS has not been defeated, adding that pulling U.S. troops out of Syria would destabilize the region.

“The war against terrorism has not ended and (the Islamic State group) has not been defeated,” the SDF said, according to the Associated Press.

{mosads}“The decision to pull out under these circumstances will lead to a state of instability and create a political and military void in the region and leave its people between the claws of enemy forces,” it added.

Trump while announcing on Wednesday that the U.S. would withdraw its troops from Syria declared that ISIS in Syria had been defeated.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump wrote in a tweet.

The White House also said in a statement that the U.S. “has defeated the territorial caliphate.”

Trump then doubled down on those claims in a video message Wednesday evening, saying that the U.S. has “won against ISIS.”

“We’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them badly. We’ve taken back the land and now it’s time for our troops to come back home,” he said.

After historic victories against ISIS, it’s time to bring our great young people home! pic.twitter.com/xoNjFzQFTp

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018