Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad wants to liberate areas ‘by force’, raises prospect of clash with US
After recovering swathes of territory, he now controls the majority of the country, but some parts remain outside his control at the borders with Iraq, Jordan and Turkey
The United States should learn the lesson of Iraq and leave Syria, President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview, responding to US President Donald Trump’s description of him as an animal by saying “what you say is what you are”.
In the interview with RT, the Russian state’s international broadcaster, Assad raised the prospect of conflict with US forces if they do not leave Syria. He vowed to recover territory where American troops have deployed, either through negotiations with Washington’s Syrian allies or by force.
Assad, who is backed by Russia and Iran, appears militarily unassailable in the war that has killed an estimated half a million people, uprooted around 6 million people in the country, and driven another 5 million abroad as refugees.
After recovering swathes of territory, Assad now controls the biggest part of Syria. But tracts remain outside his control at the borders with Iraq, Jordan and Turkey.
That includes large parts of the north and east where US special forces deployed during the fight against Islamic State, supporting the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).