(CNN) President Donald Trump has agreed to keep about 400 US troops in Syria after the withdrawal of most US forces there this spring, a senior administration official said Friday.

Trump agreed on Thursday to keep about 200 US troops as part of planned multinational force that would maintain a safe zone in northeastern Syria, the official said. This force would be in addition to the 200 troops the US is planning to maintain after the withdrawal at its base in at-Tanf, Syria, the official said.

Trump on Friday denied that the decision represented a reversal of his previous position.

"I'm not reversing course. I have done something nobody else has been able to do," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

He continued, "At the same time, we can leave a small force, along with others in the force, whether it's NATO troops or whoever it might be, so that it doesn't start up again. And I'm OK. It's a very small, tiny fraction of the people we have and a lot of people like that idea and I'm open to ideas."

Acting Secretary of Defense Pat Shanahan refused to confirm Syria troop numbers Friday while addressing reporters at the Pentagon prior to a meeting with his Turkish counterpart.

"I'm not going to talk troop numbers or troop movements but I think we saw some good progress yesterday and today's meeting really is about talking next steps," Shanahan said.

The US and NATO allies are in the process of assembling what officials are calling a "monitoring and observer" force of roughly 800 to 1,500 troops to maintain a safe zone in northeastern Syria. The goal of the force would be to maintain a buffer between Turkey and US-allied Syrian opposition forces to ensure that neither side carries out attacks on the other.

A US defense official said the force would also have the aim of preventing an ISIS resurgence in northeast Syria though it is not clear whether they would be involved in training or advising local forces as part of this effort.

The US initially planned to only provide air support -- not ground troops -- to the observer force, but NATO allies objected and said they would not contribute troops toward such a mission without a US troop commitment, the official said.

It became clear to US officials on Monday that the observer force would never become a reality absent an American commitment of ground troops. After consulting with State and Defense Department officials, national security adviser John Bolton met with Trump on Thursday and convinced him to agree to commit "a couple hundred" troops, said a senior administration official, who briefed a small group of reporters on Friday on the plans on condition of anonymity.

The defense official confirmed that Bolton convinced Trump to extend a US presence on Thursday.

A US official told CNN Thursday that the remaining US troops will be able to provide unique high-end capabilities -- such as logistics, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and calling in airstrikes -- that would help encourage coalition countries like France and the United Kingdom to also keep their troops in Syria to help ensure the safe zone.

The decision ticks up the number of troops that Trump is agreeing to maintain in Syria after he hastily announced his plans to withdraw US troops from Syria late last year, stunning US officials and allies and triggering the resignation of Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis. US officials and allies have sought to mitigate the risk to US-allied Syrian opposition forces and to ensure that the US can adequately respond to the potential resurgence of ISIS in the region.

Planning for the multinational observer force stems from an idea that Turkey proposed to Bolton and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford during a visit in January, amid concerns about the potential for conflict between Turkey and US-backed Kurdish forces. The Joint Chiefs has since been leading discussions with NATO allies to assemble the force.

Turkish officials have expressed concerns that US-backed Kurdish forces would carry out terrorist attacks in Turkey, and the US-backed forces have worried about the fret of a Turkish invasion.

Speaking prior to his meeting with Dunford and Shanahan Friday, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar told reporters that they were "here to discuss policy issue in detail," saying that Turkey had no issue with the Syrian Kurds but that they did consider Kurdish militia groups backed by the US to be linked to groups that Ankara views as terrorist organizations.

The senior administration official made clear that the observer force would not be a United Nations-chartered peacekeeping force and would not face the same restrictive rules of engagement that those forces face, but declined to elaborate on what those rules of engagement would be. The forces would, however, be combat-ready, the official said.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff are continuing to hammer out discussions with NATO allies, but given that a commitment of US troops was the Europeans' main objection, US officials are optimistic that this force will be assembled.

The senior administration official briefed reporters on Friday after White House press secretary Sarah Sanders issued a brief one-line statement asserting that "a small peace keeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time." That figure did not take into account the presence of another 200 troops expected to remain at at-Tanf.

The defense official would not say how many troops are to remain in at-Tanf, but confirmed that the US military would maintain a presence there as part of its effort to target ISIS remnants and prevent the terror group's resurgence.

US officials hope the multinational force in northeastern Syria will minimize the risk of conflict between Turkey and US-backed forces in Syria.

US officials are aiming to withdraw most US troops from Syria by April, but a senior administration official said Friday that date could shift depending on how quickly the multinational observer force is assembled.

This story has been updated with additional developments Friday. </s> The US military will keep around 200 troops in Syria after US President Donald Trump’s pullout from the war-torn country, the White House said Thursday.

“A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time,” White House spokesperson Sarah Sanders said.

The announcement comes amid fierce criticism of Trump’s decision to withdraw America’s 2,000 or so troops from Syria by April 30, with members of his own Republican Party blasting the move.

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In December, Trump declared victory over the Islamic State group in Syria, even though thousands of jihadists remain and fighting continues around their last holdout.

Critics have decried a number of possible outcomes from a precipitous withdrawal, including a Turkish attack on US-backed Kurdish forces and a resurgence of IS.

Israel has repeatedly warned in recent years that Iran is seeking to establish a military presence in Syria, where it is fighting alongside its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah and Russia to restore the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Israeli officials have also warned that America’s absence would open the door for Tehran to create a so-called “land bridge” from Iran, through Iraq and Syria, into Lebanon and to the Mediterranean Sea.

Over the last several years, Israel has carried out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria against targets linked to Iran.

Sanders did not provide additional details, but the troops’ “peacekeeping” designation could pave the way for European allies to commit forces for such a mission.

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan visited Europe last week where he attempted to convince allies to maintain a troop presence in Syria after the US pulls out.

But he struggled to persuade other countries why they should risk their forces with America gone.

Trump earlier Thursday spoke with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, and the two men discussed Syria, according to a White House summary.

“The two presidents agreed to continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone” in Syria, the readout said.

At the height of its rule, IS imposed its brutal ideology on a territory roughly the size of the United Kingdom, attracting thousands of supporters from abroad.

But the jihadists have since lost almost all their territory save for a tiny sliver of around half a square kilometer (a fifth of a square mile) in the eastern Syrian village of Baghouz.

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) are working towards evacuating civilians remaining in the holdout, so they can polish off the dying IS “caliphate” whether through an assault or a surrender deal.

Syria’s Kurds have long demanded the repatriation of foreigners accused of belonging to IS in their custody, but their home countries have been reluctant. </s> Trump: 400 US troops to remain in Syria, half near Israeli border

US President Donald Trump says the last of the Islamic State’s territory in Syria will be freed by US-backed forces “by tonight.”

Speaking as he leaves the White House, Trump displays maps of IS-held territory in Iraq and Syria on the day he was elected and as of this morning.

The most recent map shows what Trump says is a “tiny spot which will be gone by tonight.” He says when he was elected, Syria was “a mess” and awash in IS fighters.

US-backed fighters battling to retake the last IS outpost in eastern Syria seized most of the last pocket of land yesterday.

Trump has previously announced the defeat of the group, but sleeper cells of fighters remain in Syria.

Trump says the US will keep 400 troops in Syria indefinitely, including 200 near the Israeli borer. </s> President Donald Trump's administration, which abruptly announced in December that it was pulling out of Syria, said Thursday that it will keep 200 U.S. troops in the country for now.

"A small peace keeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for period of time," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a one-sentence statement.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who had harshly criticized Trump's decision to pull U.S. forces out of Syria, applauded the president's decision to leave a few hundred as part of an "international stabilizing force."

Graham said it will ensure that Turkey will not get into a conflict with Syrian Democratic Forces, which helped the United States fight Islamic State militants. Turkey views Kurdish members of the Syrian Democratic Forces as terrorists.

Moreover, Graham said leaving a small force in Syria will serve as a check on Iranian ambitions and help ensure that Islamic State fighters do not try to return.

"A safe zone in Syria made up of international forces is the best way to achieve our national security objectives of continuing to contain Iran, ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS, protecting our Turkish allies, and securing the Turkish border with Syria," Graham said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

Trump's decision to pull 2,000 U.S. troops from Syria, which he initially said would be rapid but later slowed down, shocked U.S. allies and angered the Kurds in Syria, who are vulnerable to attack by Turkey. It also prompted the resignation of Defense Secretary James Mattis and drew criticism in Congress. Sen. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, called the decision a "betrayal of our Kurdish partners."

Many believe the Islamic State threat won't end with the pocket's recapture and an insurgency is underway. In a foreboding sign Thursday, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for back-to-back suicide attacks that hit a village miles away, leaving more than a dozen people dead in a rare targeting of civilians.

It's unclear where the 200 remaining U.S. troops will be stationed.

The U.S. military has a limited network of bases inside Syria. Troops work mostly out of small camps in remote parts of the country's northeast.

Also, U.S. troops are among 200 to 300 coalition troops at a garrison in southern Syria known as al-Tanf, where they train and accompany local Syrian opposition forces on patrols to counter the IS group. Al-Tanf is on a vital road linking Iranian-backed forces from Tehran all the way to southern Lebanon -- and Israel's doorstep.

"On Syria, the two presidents agreed to continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone," the White House said in a statement about the call.

The White House also said acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Joseph Dunford will be hosting their Turkish counterparts in Washington this week for further talks.

The Syrian Democratic Forces is currently involved in a standoff over the final sliver of land held by the Islamic State in eastern Syria, close to the Iraq border.

A few hundred people -- many of them women and children -- were evacuated Wednesday from the group's tiny tent camp on the banks of the Euphrates River, signaling an imminent end to the territorial rule of the militants' self-declared "caliphate" that once stretched across a third of both Syria and Iraq.

Some 300 Islamic State militants, along with hundreds of civilians believed to be mostly their families, have been under siege for more than a week in the tent camp in the village of Baghouz. It wasn't clear how many civilians remain holed up inside, along with the militants.

More trucks were sent in Thursday to the tip of a corridor leading to the camp to evacuate more people, but Associated Press journalists on the ground outside Baghouz said no civilians emerged.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed Syrian forces handed over more than 150 Iraqi members of the group to Iraq, an Iraqi security official said Thursday.

Information for this article was contributed by Deb Riechmann, Robert Burns and Zeina Karam of The Associated Press. </s> In a momentous announcement at an event in Ohio on Thursday, Donald Trump said, “We’re knocking the hell out of ISIS. We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let the other people take care of it now.”

What lends credence to the statement that the Trump administration will soon be pulling 2,000 US troops out of Syria – mostly Special Forces assisting the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – is that President Trump had recently announced to sack the National Security Advisor Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster.

McMaster represented the institutional logic of the deep state in the Trump administration and was instrumental in advising Donald Trump to escalate the conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria. He had advised President Trump to increase the number of US troops in Afghanistan from 8,400 to 15,000. And in Syria, he was in favor of the Pentagon’s policy of training and arming 30,000 Kurdish border guards to patrol Syria’s northern border with Turkey.

Both the decisions have spectacularly backfired on the Trump administration. The decision to train and arm 30,000 Kurdish border guards had annoyed the Erdogan administration to an extent that Turkey mounted Operation Olive Branch in the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in Syria’s northwest on January 20.

After capturing Afrin on March 18, the Turkish armed forces and their Free Syria Army proxies have now cast their eyes further east on Manbij where the US Special Forces are closely cooperating with the Kurdish YPG militia, in line with the long-held Turkish military doctrine of denying the Kurds any Syrian territory west of River Euphrates.

More significantly, however, the US bombers and Apache helicopters struck a contingent of Syrian government troops and allied forces in Deir al-Zor on February 7 that reportedly killed and wounded dozens of Russian military contractors working for the private security firm, the Wagner group.

In order to understand the reason why the US brazenly attacked the Russian contractors, we need to keep the backdrop of seven-year-long Syrian conflict in mind. Washington has failed to topple the government of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. After the Russian intervention in September 2015, the momentum of the battle has shifted in favor of the Syrian government and Washington’s proxies are on the receiving end in the conflict.

Washington’s policy of nurturing militants against the Syrian government has given birth to the Islamic State and myriads of jihadist groups that have carried out audacious terror attacks in Europe during the last three years. Out of necessity, Washington had to make the Kurds the centerpiece of its policy in Syria. But on January 20, its NATO-ally Turkey mounted Operation Olive Branch against the Kurds in the northwestern Syrian canton of Afrin.

In order to save its reputation as a global power, Washington could have confronted Turkey and pressured it to desist from invading Afrin. But it chose the easier path and vented its frustration on the Syrian government forces in Deir al-Zor which led to the casualties of scores of Russian military contractors hired by the Syrian government.

Another reason why Washington struck Russian contractors working in Syria was that the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) – which are mainly comprised of Kurdish YPG militias – had reportedly handed over the control of some areas east of Euphrates River to Deir al-Zor Military Council (DMC), which is the Arab-led component of SDF, and had relocated several battalions of Kurdish YPG militias to Afrin and along Syria’s northern border with Turkey in order to defend the Kurdish-held areas against the onslaught of Turkish armed forces and allied Free Syria Army (FSA) militias.

Syrian forces with the backing of Russian contractors took advantage of the opportunity and crossed the Euphrates River to capture an oil refinery located east of Euphrates River in the Kurdish-held area of Deir al-Zor. The US Air Force responded with full force, knowing well the ragtag Arab component of SDF – mainly comprised of local Arab tribesmen and mercenaries to make the Kurdish-led SDF appear more representative and inclusive – was simply not a match for the superior training and arms of Syrian troops and Russian military contractors, consequently causing a massacre in which scores of Russian citizens lost their lives.

It would be pertinent to note here that regarding the Syria policy, there is a schism between the White House and the American deep state led by the Pentagon. After Donald Trump’s inauguration as the US president, he has delegated operational-level decisions in conflict zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria to the Pentagon.

The way the US officials are evading responsibility for the incident, it appears the decision to strike pro-government forces in Deir al-Zor that included Russian contractors was taken by the operational commander of the US forces in Syria and the White House was not informed until after the strike.

Notwithstanding, it bears mentioning that unlike dyed-in-the-wool globalists and “liberal interventionists,” like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, who cannot look past beyond the tunnel vision of political establishments, it appears that the protectionist Donald Trump not only follows news from conservative mainstream outlets, like the Fox News, but he has also been familiar with alternative news perspectives, such as Breitbart’s, no matter how racist and xenophobic.

Thus, Donald Trump is fully aware that the conflict in Syria is a proxy war initiated by the Western political establishments and their regional Middle Eastern allies against the Syrian government. He is also mindful of the fact that militants have been funded, trained and armed in the training camps located in Turkey’s border regions to the north of Syria and in Jordan’s border regions to the south of Syria.

According to the last year’s March 31 article [1] for the New York Times by Michael Gordon, the US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley and the recently sacked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had stated on the record that defeating the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq was the top priority of the Trump administration and the fate of Bashar al-Assad was of least concern to the new administration.

Under the previous Obama administration, the evident policy in Syria was regime change. The Trump administration, however, looks at the crisis in Syria from an entirely different perspective because Donald Trump regards Islamic jihadists as a much bigger threat to the security of the US.

In order to allay the concerns of Washington’s traditional allies in the Middle East, the Trump administration conducted a cruise missiles strike on al-Shayrat airfield in Homs governorate on April 6 last year after the chemical weapons strike in Khan Sheikhoun. But that isolated incident was nothing more than a show of force to bring home the point that the newly elected Donald Trump is an assertive and powerful president.

Finally, Karen De Young and Liz Sly made another startling revelation in the last year’s March 4 article [2] for the Washington Post: “Trump has said repeatedly that the US and Russia should cooperate against the Islamic State, and he has indicated that the future of Russia-backed Assad is of less concern to him.”

Thus, the interests of all the major players in Syria have evidently converged on defeating Islamic jihadists, and the Obama-era policy of regime change has been put on the back burner. And after the recent announcement of complete withdrawal of US troops from Syria by President Trump, it appears that we are approaching the endgame in Syria, an event as momentous as the Fall of Saigon in 1975, which will mark a stellar military victory for Vladimir Putin.

1- White House Accepts ‘Political Reality’ of Assad’s Grip on Power in Syria:

2- Pentagon plan to seize Raqqa calls for significant increase in U.S. participation:

Nauman Sadiq is an Islamabad-based attorney, columnist and geopolitical analyst focused on the politics of Af-Pak and Middle East regions, neocolonialism and petro-imperialism. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will leave about 400 U.S. troops split between two different regions of Syria, a senior administration official said on Friday, a reversal by President Donald Trump that could pave the way for U.S. allies to keep troops in Syria.

Trump had ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 U.S. troops Syria in December after he said they had defeated Islamic State militants in Syria. The abrupt decision sparked an outcry from allies and U.S. lawmakers and was a factor in Jim Mattis’ resignation as defence secretary.

But Trump was persuaded by advisers on Thursday that about 200 U.S. troops would join what is expected to be a total commitment of about 800 to 1,500 troops from European allies to set up and observe a safe zone being negotiated for northeastern Syria, the official told reporters.

About 200 other U.S. troops will remain at the U.S. military outpost of Tanf, near the border with Iraq and Jordan, the official said.

Until now, European allies have balked at providing troops unless they received a firm commitment that Washington was still committed to the region.

Despite the shift, Trump told reporters on Friday “I’m not reversing course” on Syria, arguing the remaining troops would be “a very small, tiny fraction” of the forces who would ensure that Islamic State does not regroup.

Officials said the numbers agreed on this week were not firm and could still change.

“We don’t want to see a resurgence of ISIS,” the official said, using an acronym for Islamic State.

Leaving even a small group of U.S. troops in Syria could pave the way for European allies to commit hundreds of troops to help observe a potential safe zone in northeastern Syria.

Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, has been in talks with European counterparts about the safe zone in northeastern Syria.

But on Monday, U.S. officials concluded that Europeans would not be willing to go it alone without some American participation, the official said.

The combat-ready U.S. and European forces will help keep the peace between Kurdish forces, who supported the fight against Islamic State, and Turkey, which fears attacks from militant groups, the official said.

The safe zone also will serve as a bulwark against Iran’s influence, the official said.

The Tanf garrison, where the other 200 troops would remain, was set up when Islamic State fighters controlled eastern Syria bordering Iraq. But since the militants were driven out, Tanf has assumed a role as part of a U.S. strategy to contain Iran’s military buildup.

“Yesterday I asked the president for a couple hundred - he said yes,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“It’s not a firm number, and the president understood that when we asked him,” the official said.

Trump made the decision just before speaking to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan by phone on Thursday, and suggested to Erdogan that Turkish military officials continue the discussions while visiting their counterparts in Washington on Friday.

There were no firm commitments on troops for the safe zone from European allies as of Friday, and those talks continue.

“I’m very optimistic about it, but it’s not done yet,” the official said.

Turkey wants to set up a safe zone with logistical support from allies and says it should be cleared of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group.

Before the start of a meeting with his Turkish counterpart at the Pentagon, acting U.S. Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the mission had not changed.

“The transition that we are working towards is stabilization and to enhance the security capability of local security forces,” Shanahan said.

Another U.S. official said Dunford had been working on the issue and speaking with allies for some time.

The official said the safe zone would not include Turkish troops or “Syrian opposition forces” and U.S. troops would bring specific capabilities like intelligence and logistics.

Dunford said that he was confident that allies would step up in Syria. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will leave “a small peacekeeping group” of 200 American troops in Syria for a period of time after a U.S. pullout, the White House said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump pulled back from a complete withdrawal.

Trump in December ordered a withdrawal of the 2,000 American troops in Syria on the defeat of the last remnants of the Islamic State militants there.

But Trump has been under pressure from multiple advisers to adjust his policy to ensure the protection of Kurdish forces, who supported the fight against Islamic State and who might now be threatened by Turkey, and to serve as a bulwark against Iran’s influence.

“A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The decision was announced after Trump spoke by phone to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. A White House statement said the two leaders agreed, regarding Syria, to “continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone.”

A senior administration official said Trump’s decision had been in the works for some time. It was unclear how long the 200 troops would be expected to remain in the area or where exactly they would be deployed.

Leaving even a small group of U.S. troops in Syria could pave the way for European allies to commit hundreds of troops to help set up and observe a potential safe zone in northeast Syria.

“This is a clear direction to our allies and coalition members that we will be on the ground in some capacity,” the senior administration official said.

The decision to retain peacekeepers could help Trump overcome criticism that he had ordered a precipitous withdrawal from Syria that could lead to Islamic State’s gathering strength.

Turkey wants to set up a safe zone with logistical support from allies and says it should be cleared of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group.

On Thursday, acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan met with his counterpart from Belgium. Before the meeting, Belgium’s minister of defense, Didier Reynders, was asked whether he would be open to keeping troops if there were no American forces left.

“We are waiting for preparation of the withdrawal of U.S. troops and we are waiting now for more discussions about the … if it’s possible and good collaboration with the defense department but it was the beginning of the discussion in Munich,” Reynders said.

Until now, European allies have balked at providing troops unless they received a firm commitment that Washington was still committed to the region.

U.S. officials have told Reuters that while in Munich last week, Shanahan held a meeting on Syria with a small group of defense ministers. In the meeting they talked about needing some sort of security arrangement in northeast Syria after the United States has left. Shanahan will meet his Turkish counterpart on Friday.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, speaking at the Munich Security Conference last week, said the top U.S. general would ask allies to contribute forces to help stabilize areas liberated from Islamic State. </s> Trump in December ordered a withdrawal of the 2,000 American troops in Syria, saying they had defeated Islamic State militants there, even as US-backed Syrian forces continued a final push against the group’s last outpost.

But Trump has been under pressure from multiple advisers to adjust his policy to ensure the protection of Kurdish forces, who supported the fight against Islamic State and who might now be threatened by Turkey, and to serve as a bulwark against Iran’s influence.

“A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

The decision was announced after Trump spoke by phone to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan. A White House statement said the two leaders agreed, regarding Syria, to “continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone.”

A senior administration official said Trump’s decision had been in the works for some time. It was unclear how long the 200 troops would be expected to remain in the area or where exactly they would be deployed.

Leaving even a small group of US troops in Syria could pave the way for European allies to commit hundreds of troops to help set up and observe a potential safe zone in northeast Syria.

The commander of US-backed Syrian forces has called for 1,000 to 1,500 international troops to remain in the country to help fight Islamic State and expressed hope the United States, in particular, would halt plans for a total pullout.

The decision to retain peacekeepers could help Trump overcome criticism that he had ordered a precipitous withdrawal from Syria that could lead to Islamic State regaining strength.

“This is a clear direction to our allies and coalition members that we will be on the ground in some capacity,” the senior US administration official said.

Until now, European allies have balked at providing troops unless they received a firm commitment that Washington was still committed to the region.

Belgian Defense Minister Didier Reynders told reporters on Thursday before a meeting with acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan that the issue of keeping troops in Syria in the future would be a matter for discussion with US officials.

Turkey wants to set up a safe zone with logistical support from allies and says it should be cleared of the U.S.-backed Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers a terrorist group.

The White House did not say where exactly its troops would be based. In addition to northeast Syria, officials have talked about the importance of keeping some troops at the strategic Tanf garrison on the Iraq-Jordan border.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the initial plan was to have some troops in northeastern Syria and some at Tanf. The official said planning was ongoing and could change.

The Tanf garrison was set up when Islamic State fighters controlled eastern Syria bordering Iraq. But since the militants were driven out, Tanf has assumed a role as part of a US strategy to contain Iran’s military buildup.

US officials have told Reuters that while in Munich last week, Shanahan held a meeting on Syria with a small group of defense ministers. They talked about needing some sort of security arrangement in northeast Syria after the United States left. Shanahan will meet his Turkish counterpart on Friday.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham issued a statement applauding Trump’s decision to keep a small contingent of US troops in Syria as part of an international stabilising force, saying the president had followed sound military advice that would help avoid the problems the United States faced in Iraq. </s> NEAR BAGHOUZ, Syria/ERBIL, Iraq (Reuters) - Kurdish-led forces in Syria said they would complete the evacuation of thousands of civilians from Islamic State’s last redoubt in the area on Friday, and welcomed a White House reversal of President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out all U.S. troops.

With Washington’s allies poised for victory against Islamic State fighters making a final stand in a pocket near the Iraqi border, the White House announced plans on Thursday to keep “a small peacekeeping force” of 200 troops in Syria.

The announcement partially reversed Trump’s abrupt decision in December to withdraw the entire 2,000-strong U.S. contingent, which had alarmed Washington’s Kurdish allies and prompted Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to quit.

An administration official later put the total number of troops to stay at 400, split between a safe zone being negotiated for northeastern Syria and a U.S. military base at Tanf, near the border with Iraq and Jordan.

Although the U.S. contingent would now be small, the official indicated that the 200 troops in the northwest would be part of a wider commitment of about 800-1,500 troops also drawn from European allies to set up and observe a safe zone.

Kurdish leaders suggested the U.S. troop decision could have a large impact on the fate of the area, preventing a security vacuum. Washington could keep control of the air space and European allies could complement the force with more troops.

The planned assault on the final Islamic State redoubt in the area, Baghouz, would effectively end the territorial rule of the jihadist group, which ruled around a third of both Iraq and Syria at its self-proclaimed Caliphate’s height four years ago.

Reporters near the front line at Baghouz saw dozens of trucks leaving loaded with civilians, and empty ones driving inside accompanied by fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia.

Mustafa Bali, an SDF spokesman, said the evacuation would be completed on Friday, with thousands of civilians still inside the pocket from an estimated 7,000 at the start of the day, though by nightfall it was unclear if it had been completed. More than 20,000 civilians have left Baghouz in recent weeks, according to previous SDF estimates.

The U.S.-led coalition which supports the SDF has said Islamic State’s “most hardened fighters” are holed up inside.

“If we succeed in evacuating all the civilians, at any moment we will take the decision to storm Baghouz or force the terrorists to surrender,” said Bali.

Though the fall of Baghouz would mark a milestone in the campaign against Islamic State, the militant group is still seen as a security threat, using guerrilla tactics and still holding some territory in a remote area west of the Euphrates River.

The battle against Islamic State in the area has taken place since December in the shadow of Trump’s abrupt decision to withdraw all U.S. troops, which raised doubt about the future of the fighters that had served as U.S. allies on the ground.

The Kurdish-led authorities in the north welcomed the White House reversal. They had feared that a total U.S. withdrawal would leave their area exposed to attack by Turkey, which sees the main Kurdish militia as a national security threat.

“We evaluate the White House decision ... positively,” Abdulkarim Omar, co-chair of foreign relations in the region held by the U.S.-backed SDF told Reuters.

“This decision may encourage other European states, particularly our partners in the international coalition against terrorism, to keep forces in the region,” Omar added. “I believe that keeping a number of American troops and a larger number of (other) coalition troops, with air protection, will play a role in securing stability and protecting the region too.”

The SDF’s top commander earlier this week called for 1,000 to 1,500 international troops to remain in Syria to help fight Islamic State and expressed hope Washington would halt Trump’s plans for a total pullout.

A Western diplomat said it remained to be seen whether European allies would contribute troops, or whether the force would be able to secure the area.

“Even if 200 troops remain and the U.S. decides to continue claiming the airspace, it’s not clear whether that would convince Britain, France and other partners to stay — and whether that could keep the Syrian regime out of the northeast for now, or Turkey, or an IS resurgence.”

The Kurds, who want to preserve the autonomy they have carved out, have made overtures to President Bashar al-Assad, urging government forces to deploy at the borders as Washington withdraws. The U.S. decision may strengthen the Kurds’ hand.

“I believe that these forces in this region ... will be a motivation, an incentive and also a means of pressure on Damascus to try seriously to have a dialogue to resolve the Syrian crisis,” Omar said.
U.S. President Donald Trump agrees to keep about 400 U.S. troops in Syria.