Top US commander says Trump’s abrupt Syria exit to start in ‘weeks’ as questions surface over troop relocation to Iraq

The US military has already started withdrawing equipment from Syria, but the full withdrawal of America’s more than 2,000 troops may begin sooner than expected

One big question has been whether some US forces in Syria might move to neighbouring Iraq, where the United States has more than 5,000 troops helping Baghdad fight Islamic State

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US and French military personnel leave a French artillery base in Iraq's western Anbar province opposite Syria's Deir Ezzor region, near the last scrap of territory held by IS. Photo: AFP

Published: 8:53am, 11 Feb 2019Updated: 9:04pm, 11 Feb 2019

The United States is likely just weeks away from starting the withdrawal of ground troops from Syria ordered by President Donald Trump, the top US commander overseeing American forces in the Middle East said on Sunday.

US Army General Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command, cautioned that the exact timing would depend on the situation in Syria, where US-backed fighters have launched a final assault against Islamic State enclaves near the Iraqi border.

The US military has already started withdrawing equipment from Syria. Asked whether the withdrawal of America’s more than 2,000 troops would begin in days or weeks, Votel said: “Probably weeks. But again, it will all be driven by the situation on the ground.”

“In terms of the withdrawal … I think we’re right on track with where we wanted to be,” Votel told reporters travelling with him during a trip to the Middle East.

“Moving people is easier than moving equipment and so what we’re trying to do right now is again [to] kind of clear out those materials, that equipment, that we do not need.”

US and French military personnel at a French artillery base near al-Qaim in Iraq's western Anbar province opposite Syria's Deir Ezzor region, a few kilometres away from the last scrap of territory held by IS in eastern Syria. Photo: AFP

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