WASHINGTON: US defense secretary Jim Mattis quit Thursday as President Donald Trump weathered an escalating backlash at home and abroad over his sudden decision to pull all troops from Syria.Trump steadfastly defended the withdrawal of the 2,000-strong force from Syria, vowing that the United States would no longer be the "policeman of the Middle East" and insisting that the Islamic State movement had been defeated.Mattis, a retired general seen as a moderating force on the often impulsive president, made little attempt to hide his disagreements with Trump."Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours," Mattis said in a letter to Trump, "I believe it is right for me to step down from my position."Mattis hailed the coalition to defeat the Islamic State and also defended NATO, the military alliance between North America and Europe whose cost-effectiveness has been questioned by the businessman turned president."My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues," Mattis wrote.The resignation came as The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump was also considering a substantial drawdown in a much larger US operation -- Afghanistan.Trump, who has surrounded himself with former military men and was said to have been impressed by the scholarly and calm 68-year-old Mattis, was diplomatic as he announced the departure, writing on Twitter that the defense secretary achieved "tremendous progress."Mattis will serve until the end of February, giving Trump a short window to name a successor who can be confirmed by the Senate.Just hours earlier, Trump took to Twitter to bash a frequent ally known to covet the job, Senator Lindsey Graham, after the lawmaker also questioned the wisdom of exiting Syria.Doubling down on his declaration on Twitter of victory over the Islamic State group a day earlier, Trump boasted of commanding the world's most powerful military and said that others should lead the fighting."Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight," he tweeted.But he found little support. The top Republican and Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee, Mac Thornberry and Adam Smith respectively, came together Thursday to voice concern, saying a withdrawal would be a "strategic error" that would endanger Kurdish allies and empower rivals Russia and Iran."ISIS was and still remains a lethal threat to America's security and will seek to inspire threats to the homeland from safe havens around the world," they said in a joint statement.The United States will keep up air strikes in Syria so long as troops remain, Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said, but it was unclear what would happen afterward.France and Britain both have small contingents of special forces inside Syria, focused like the US troops on battling the Islamic State group.The US withdrawal will make Russia, which has deployed its air power in support of President Bashar al-Assad, the pre-eminent global power in the conflict.As Trump tweeted that Russia wanted US forces to stay and blamed the "fake news" media for reporting otherwise, Putin publicly rejoiced over the pullout order."The fact that the US has decided to withdraw its troops is right," Putin said during an annual year-end press conference, saying that "on the whole I agree with the US president" on the level of damage inflicted on Islamic State.Putin, who has described the fall of the Soviet Union as a historic geopolitical disaster, sees Moscow's longtime ally Syria as a key asset in preserving influence in the Middle East.Iran's Shiite clerical regime has also strongly backed Assad, a secular leader from the heterodox Alawite sect. Turkey opposes Assad and may be emboldened by Trump to attack Kurdish fighters inside Syria, who fought alongside US troops against the Islamic State group.Turkey links the Kurds who dominate the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces to a decades-old insurgency at home, but had been reluctant to strike for fear of setting off a crisis if the United States suffered casualties.Mustefa Bali, a spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the fighters would keep up the battle against Islamic State -- but that all bets were off if Turkey attacks.Bali said the Kurdish forces would keep locked up the Islamic State extremists in their custody -- but alleged that Turkey may target prisons to sow chaos once US troops leave.French President Emmanuel Macron's office called the prisoner issue "extremely important for France" and urged discussions to avoid "one of the negative consequences of a hasty retreat."The Islamic State movement has claimed credit for a slew of bloody attacks around the world, including the 2015 coordinated assault on Paris, and experts estimate that thousands of sympathizers remain.Meanwhile Germany, which has taken in more than one million refugees stemming in large part from the Syria conflict, questioned Trump's assessment that the threat was over.While fighting has largely subsided in Syria and the Islamic State group holds little territory, a political solution remains elusive in ending the war that has killed more than 360,000 and displaced millions since 2011.The outgoing UN envoy to Syria, Staffan de Mistura, acknowledged Thursday to the Security Council that a goal would not be met of setting up a committee by the end of the year to write a new Syrian constitution.</s>The United States will withdraw its troops from Syria, a US official told AFP on Wednesday, after President Donald Trump said America has “defeated IS” in the war-ravaged country.

The move will have extraordinary geopolitical ramifications and throws into question the fate of US-backed Kurdish fighters who have been tackling Islamic State jihadists.

“We have defeated IS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted.

The US official said the decision was finalised Tuesday.

“Full withdrawal, all means all,” the official said when asked if the troops would be pulled from all of Syria.

The official would not provide a timeline.

“We will ensure force protection is adequately maintained, but as quickly as possible,” the official said.

Currently, about 2,000 US forces are in Syria, most of them on a train-and-advise mission to support local forces fighting IS.

A large contingent of the main fighting force, an alliance known as the Syrian Democratic forces (SDF), is Kurdish and is viewed by Turkey as a “terrorist” group.

Ankara has said it plans to launch an operation against the Kurdish militia, known as the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units).

The Pentagon would not confirm the US troop pullout.

“At this time, we continue to work by, with and through our partners in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Rob Manning said.

While the YPG has spearheaded Washington’s fight against IS, US support has strained relations between the NATO allies.

Ties have grown more fraught since the US set up observation posts in northern Syria close to the border with Turkey to prevent any altercation between Turkish forces and the YPG.

IS swept across large swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014, implementing their brutal interpretation of Islamic law in areas they controlled.

But they have since seen their dream of a state crumble, as they have lost most of that territory to various offensives.

In Syria, IS fighters are holding out in what remains of the pocket that once included Hajin, including the villages of Al-Shaafa and Sousa.

Most US forces are stationed in northern Syria, though a small contingent is based at a garrison in Al-Tanaf, near the Jordanian and Iraqi border.</s>PARIS (Reuters) - France will keep troops in northern Syria for now because Islamic State militants have not been wiped out, contrary to the U.S. view, and has started talks with the United States on the conditions and calendar of its withdrawal, officials said.

FILE PHOTO: French Defence Minister Florence Parly visits Euronaval, the world naval defence exhibition in Le Bourget near Paris, France, October 23, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo

France is a leading member of the U.S.-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq and has special forces based in the north of the country, deployed alongside Kurdish and Arab forces, and carries out air strikes against the group.

A French presidency source told reporters members of the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a U.S. partner in the area, would be in Paris on Friday to hold talks with officials over the move.

“He (Trump) is cutting corners, risking a serious accident ... the coalition’s spine is the United States,” the source said.

France is especially sensitive to the Islamic State threat after several major deadly attacks on its soil and officials believe the militant group continues to pose a threat. Hundreds of French nationals have joined the group in Syria.

President Emmanuel Macron spoke to President Donald Trump on Tuesday after learning in advance of Trump’s intentions, to try convince him not to pull out, as was the case in April when Macron convinced him to stay engaged in Syria by citing the threat of Iran in the region, the source said.

French diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday that Trump’s decision to withdraw all 2,000 U.S. troops from the region had taken Paris by surprise. U.S. officials justified the decision by saying Islamic State had been defeated.

“Islamic State has not been wiped from the map nor have its roots. The last pockets of this terrorist organization must be defeated militarily once and for all,” Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Twitter..

Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau told C-News television that for now French troops would stay.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said Paris and its coalition allies had started talks with Washington on the timeframe and conditions for the U.S withdrawal.

“The protection of the populations of northeastern Syria and the stability of this zone must be taken into account by the United States to avoid any new humanitarian drama and any return of the terrorists,” it said.

It said Paris would be careful to ensure the security of all the U.S. partners in the area, including the SDF, who fear an assault from Turkey.

“We’re used to it now with the Trump administration. The devil is in the detail,” a French diplomat said.</s>THE United States said it has begun withdrawing its forces from Syria as it winds up its campaign to retake territory once held by Islamic State.

“We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

US President Donald Trump earlier tweeted: “We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there.”

It was not immediately clear from Sanders’ statement whether all of the roughly 2,000 US troops in the country would leave and if so, by when.

Sanders suggested that the US would remain engaged to some degree.

“The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support,” she said.

A decision to pull out completely, if confirmed, would upend assumptions about a longer-term US military presence in Syria, which senior officials have advocated to help ensure Islamic State cannot re-emerge.

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham, often a Trump ally, said a withdrawal would have “devastating consequences” for the US in the region and throughout the world.

“An American withdrawal at this time would be a big win for ISIS, Iran, (President) Bashar al Assad of Syria, and Russia,” Graham said.

Trump has previously lambasted his predecessor, Barack Obama, for the withdrawal of US forces from Iraq that preceded an unraveling of the Iraqi armed forces. Iraqi forces collapsed in the face of Islamic State’s advance into the country in 2014.

A pullout would allow other countries to increase their influence in Syria, experts said.

“If we withdraw then who fills the vacuum, who is able to stabilize and that is the million dollar question,” said Andrew Tabler, a Syria specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy think tank.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and State Department officials have long fretted about leaving Syria before a peace agreement can be reached to end the country’s civil war.

In April, Mattis said: “We do not want to simply pull out before the diplomats have won the peace. You win the fight, and then you win the peace.”

A complete withdrawal of US troops from Syria would still leave a sizeable US military presence in the region, including about 5,200 troops across the border in Iraq.

Much of the US campaign in Syria has been waged by warplanes flying out of Qatar and other locations in the Middle East.

Brett McGurk, the US special envoy for the global coalition to defeat Islamic State, said last week that the group was down to its last 1 percent of the territory it once held in its self-styled “caliphate.” The group has no remaining territory in Iraq.

But US officials have warned that taking back the group’s territory would not be the same as defeating it. ISIS is expected to now wage a guerrilla campaign.

“Even as the end of the physical caliphate is clearly now coming into sight, the end of ISIS will be a much more long-term initiative,” McGurk said.</s>Trump's decision goes against advice from officials in the State Department and Pentagon.

On Wednesday morning, Donald Trump took to his Twitter to announce that the United States had proven victorious over the terrorist group ISIS. This followed reports that US ground troops in Syria were being withdrawn at a rapid pace — and according to Business Insider, this move could prove a major benefit for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump’s Twitter stated that the only reason the United States has remained in Syria was to fight the terrorist organization; now that he’s determined it is defeated, there’s no reason for American troops to continue to stay in the country. Unfortunately, it looks like this decision goes directly against policies laid down by the Pentagon and State Department.

Just four days before the announcement, Pentagon officials released a statement about the fight against ISIS, and how America was committed to seeing the battle through to the end.

“We remain committed to working with our partners on the ground to ensure an enduring defeat of ISIS. Any reports indicating a change in the U.S. position with respect to these efforts is false and designed to sow confusion and chaos.”

The Pentagon has warned Trump repeatedly that removing American troops from Syria too early could prove disastrous for the region — and a powerful advantage to Putin. Without America’s presence in Syria, the country will be vulnerable to influence from Iran and Russia.

Iran stands accused by numerous countries of attempting to form an alliance with Syrian President Bashar Assad. This would allow them to gain freedom of movement throughout the country, which would give them the ability to engage in an arms transfer to Lebanon, where the militant party Hezbollah resides. This move could potentially lead to a strike against Israel, which has long been a target of the group.

Putin would benefit significantly from removing US troops as well. The Russian president has long had a close relationship with President Assad. Back in 2015, Putin sent warplanes to Syria to help Assad win the war. Their close ties are only expected to grow stronger, once America has left the region.

With the United States out of the picture in Syria, Russia will stand as the dominant military power in the area. This will go a long way in maintaining Assad’s power over the region, and will grant Putin a level of influence over Syria not seen before.

There are no reports yet as to how long the withdrawal from Syria will take, or when it is expected to be completed.</s>Donald Trump has claimed that Islamic State has been defeated in Syria, amid reports that he is planning a full withdrawal of US troops from the country.

Around 2,000 US soldiers are deployed in Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve - the military operation targeting Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria.

There has been major reductions in the amount of territory controlled by IS in Syria in recent years, with the militants reportedly only retaining a tiny amount of land.

Today, multiple US media outlets reported that a 'full and rapid' withdrawal of US troops has been ordered - despite apparent objections from senior defence officials.

According to the Wall Street Journal, US authorities have begun informing partners in northeastern Syria of plans for an "immediate pullout" of troops.

If a full withdrawal of ground forces takes place, the US would retain the ability to carry out airstrikes against targets in Syria.

In a statement quoted by Axios, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders claimed the US has "defeated the territorial caliphate".

She said: "These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign. We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign.

"The United States and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders."

Meanwhile, the US President himself took to Twitter to declare victory against the militants:</s>The United States has started to withdraw its troops from Syria, the White House said on Wednesday, asserting that it has been able to defeat the Islamic State in the strife-torn country.

“We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” Trump tweeted soon after which the White House announced that its troops have started returning from Syria.

“Five years ago, ISIS was a very powerful and dangerous force in the Middle East, and now the United States has defeated the territorial caliphate. These victories over ISIS in Syria do not signal the end of the Global Coalition or its campaign,” White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement.

She said the United States troops have started returning home.

“The US and our allies stand ready to re-engage at all levels to defend American interests whenever necessary, and we will continue to work together to deny radical Islamist terrorists territory, funding, support, and any means of infiltrating our borders,” she said.

The Pentagon declined to give any comment immediately.

“At this time, we continue to work by, with and through our partners in the region,” Pentagon spokesman Col Rob Manning said when asked whether the US military is preparing for a full withdrawal of forces in northeast Syria.

The Wall Street Journal described it as a abrupt decision by the Trump Administration.

“US officials began informing partners in northeastern Syria of their plans to begin immediately pulling American forces out of the region, where they have been trying to wrap up the campaign against Islamic State,” the daily said, quoting unnamed official.

Several US lawmakers warned the Trump Administration that this was a grave error.

Republican Senator Marco Rubio said that the full and rapid withdrawal from Syria is a grave error with broader implications beyond just the fight against IS.

“The President’s tweet is dangerous, premature and wholly inconsistent with the facts on the ground in Syria and our military’s advice. I have travelled to Syria to review our mission, and our military has performed well beyond expectations,” said Senator Jeanne Shaheen.

Shaheen said he is very concerned that “an ill-informed and hasty withdrawal” of troops will “breathe new life into ISIS” and other terrorist groups and cede America’s leadership role to Russia, Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.</s>WASHINGTON/BEIRUT (Reuters) - The United States will likely end its air campaign against Islamic State in Syria when it pulls out troops, U.S. officials said on Thursday, as President Donald Trump defended the planned withdrawal against criticism from allies abroad and at home.

NATO allies France and Germany said Washington’s change of course on Syria risks damaging the fight against Islamic State, the militant group that had seized swathes of Iraq and Syria but has now been squeezed to a sliver of Syrian territory.

Several of Trump’s fellow Republicans in Congress, joined by opposition Democrats, urged the president to reverse course, saying the withdrawal would strengthen the hand of Russia and Iran in Syria and enable a resurgence of Islamic State.

Trump, however, gave no sign of changing his mind and lashed out at Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican who is sometimes an ally of the president but who has said a withdrawal would have “devastating consequences” for the United States.

“So hard to believe that Lindsey Graham would be against saving soldier lives & billions of $$$,” Trump tweeted. “Why are we fighting for our enemy, Syria, by staying & killing ISIS for them, Russia, Iran & other locals? Time to focus on our Country & bring our youth back home where they belong!”

Trump’s troop announcement on Wednesday upended a pillar of American policy in the Middle East and caused consternation in domestic and foreign critics who argued it would make it harder to find a diplomatic solution to Syria’s seven-year civil war.

France, a leading member of the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State, said it would keep its troops in northern Syria for now and contested Trump’s assertion that the group has been defeated in the country.

“Islamic State has not been wiped from the map nor have its roots. The last pockets of this terrorist organization must be defeated militarily once and for all,” French Defence Minister Florence Parly said on Twitter.

France has about 1,100 troops in Iraq and Syria providing logistics, training and heavy artillery support as well as fighter jets. In Syria it has dozens of special forces, military advisers and some foreign office personnel.

Trump, however, tweeted that he was fulfilling a promise to leave Syria made during his presidential campaign and arguing that the United States was doing the work of other countries and it was “time for others to finally fight.”

Four U.S. officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the troop withdrawal is expected to mean an end to the U.S. air campaign against Islamic State in Syria. The U.S.-led air war has been vital to crushing the militants there and in neighboring Iraq, with more than 100,000 bombs and missiles fired at targets in the two countries since 2015.

Still, one U.S. official said a final decision on the air campaign had not been made and did not rule out some kind of support for partners and allies.

The United States told the U.N. Security Council it was committed to the “permanent destruction” of Islamic State in Syria and would keep pushing for the withdrawal of Iranian-backed forces in the country.

The roughly 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria, many of them special forces, were ostensibly helping to combat Islamic State but were also seen as a possible bulwark against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who has retaken much of the country from his foes in the civil war, with military help from Iran and Russia.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have been fighting Islamic State with U.S. support for three years, said the withdrawal of troops would let the militants regroup at a critical stage and leave Syrians stuck between “the claws of hostile parties” fighting for territory in the civil war.

The SDF are in the final stages of a campaign to recapture areas seized by the militants.

But they face the threat of a military incursion by Turkey, which considers the Kurdish YPG fighters who spearhead the force to be a terrorist group, and Syrian forces committed to restoring Assad’s control over the whole country.

The SDF said the battle against Islamic State had reached a decisive phase that required more support, not a precipitate U.S. withdrawal.

Islamic State declared a caliphate in 2014 after seizing parts of Syria and Iraq. The hardline group established its de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa, using it as a base to plot attacks in Europe.

According to U.S. estimates, the group oversaw about 100,000 square kms (39,000 square miles) of territory, with about 8 million people under its control and estimated revenues of nearly $1 billion a year.

A senior U.S. official last week said the group was down to its last 1 percent of the territory it once held. It has no remaining territory in Iraq, although militants have resumed insurgent attacks since the group’s defeat there last year.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he largely agreed with Trump that the group had been defeated in Syria but added there was a risk it could recover.

He also questioned what Trump’s announcement meant in practical terms, saying there was no sign yet of a withdrawal of U.S. forces, whose presence in Syria Moscow calls illegitimate.

Israel will escalate its fight against Iranian-aligned forces in Syria after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

While Turkey has not commented directly on Trump’s decision, an end to the U.S.-Kurdish partnership will please Ankara.

Kurdish militants east of the Euphrates in Syria “will be buried in their ditches when the time comes,” state-owned Anadolu news agency reported Defence Minister Hulusi Akar as saying.

Turkey has intervened to sweep YPG and Islamic State fighters from parts of northern Syria that lie west of the Euphrates over the past two years. It has not gone east of the river, partly to avoid direct confrontation with U.S. forces.</s>The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces said on Thursday a White House decision to withdraw from Syria will allow an Islamic State revival and threaten the battle in eastern Syria.

The Kurdish-led force said pulling US troops and officials out of its region would have “dangerous implications” on international stability.

This would also “create a political and military vaccum in the area, leaving its people between the claws of hostile parties,” the statement said.

France will keep its troops in northern Syria for now because Islamic State militants have not been wiped out and continue to pose a threat to French interests, officials said.

France is a leading member of the US-led coalition fighting militants in Syria and Iraq and has around 1,000 troops including special forces based in the north of the country, deployed alongside local Kurdish and Arab forces.

French diplomats told Reuters on Wednesday US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all its 2,000 troops from the region had taken Paris by surprise. US officials justified the decision by saying Islamic State had been entirely defeated.

“It shows that we can have different priorities and that we must count on ourselves first,” Europe Minister Nathalie Loiseau told C-News television. “For now, of course we are staying in Syria because the fight against Islamic State is essential.”

France is especially sensitive to the Islamic State threat after several major attacks on its soil in recent years. Hundreds of French nationals have joined the group in Syria.

Defence Minister Florence Parly acknowledged on Twitter that the militant group had been weakened and lost some 90 percent of its territory, but said the battle was not over.

“Islamic State has not been wiped from the map nor have its roots. The last pockets of this terrorist organisation must be defeated militarily once and for all,” she said.

President Emmanuel Macron spoke with Trump on Wednesday, diplomats said. In April, when Trump previously announced a US withdrawal, Macron persuaded the US leader that Washington should stay engaged by citing the threat of Iran in the region.

French officials are scrambling to find out from US agencies exactly what Trump’s announcement means. The United States has been unclear on when the troops will be withdrawn.

“We’re used to it now with the Trump administration. The devil is in the detail,” said one French diplomat.

France has about 1,100 troops operating in Iraq and Syria providing logistics, training and heavy artillery support as well as fighter jets to strike targets.

Its presence in Syria also includes dozens of special forces, military advisers and some foreign office personnel.</s>How Is The World Reacting To Trump's Decision To Withdraw From Syria?

President Trump's plan to withdraw all U.S. military forces from Syria has triggered disparate responses — from worries in liberated Raqqa and Kurdish-controlled areas to approval from Syrian and Russian officials.

Trump declared victory over ISIS, saying in a video Wednesday night, "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."

But that idea is at odds with the president's top military advisers, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis who has resigned, effective in February, noting his disagreements with the president on Syria and other issues.

Trump is also at odds with Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Early this month, Dunford refused to give a possible date for withdrawal from Syria, saying the job isn't over until areas are stabilized and local forces are trained and equipped to ensure security.

Then, days after Dunford made those comments, Trump announced Dunford's plans to retire, saying he would nominate Gen. Mark Milley to replace him.

The U.S. currently has more than 2,000 troops in Syria, fighting alongside Arab and Kurdish forces.

In addition to the troops, the White House is also ordering the withdrawal of advisers who have been trying to help reconstruct Syria's infrastructure, which has been mangled by civil war. The State Department will also withdraw staff who have been working on essential issues, such as providing water and electricity, and trying to get children into schools.

For Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, the decision represents a shift in priorities.

"The president made an enormous commitment to take down the caliphate, and that has been achieved," he told NPR's Morning Edition. "We now have the .... the counter-terrorism battle — not only against ISIS, but against al-Qaida and others."

That assessment view has not been accepted universally, however. Several of the countries involved in the Syrian conflict have voiced their opinions on the decision. Here's roundup of some key players:

"The Syrian Democratic Forces — that's the U.S.'s local Kurdish led partner there — are saying it's just not true that ISIS has been defeated. And they're saying that this withdrawal will damage the remaining fight against ISIS," NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports from Beirut.

"There's also a lot of panic among civilians. We reached people in Raqqa, that's one of the main cities that was largely destroyed in this war against ISIS. And they say they just don't know who will control this area now."

Both the Syrian regime and Turkey want to take the area away from Kurdish control, Sherlock said. And there is also the chance that there will simply be a vacuum of power, she added.

"One person we spoke to said they're afraid that ISIS will exploit this chaos and return to this area — just like extremists did when the U.S. pulled out of Iraq after the war there."

In the city of Kobani near the Turkish-Syrian border, Kurds have been digging tunnels out of concern that Turkey might stage an attack.

"Now with the U.S. leaving, there's a sense that they don't have any cover to protect them anymore, and that it's more likely that the Turks will move in," Sherlock says. "They are saying that they feel a deep sense of abandonment from the U.S."

At once an ally of President Trump and an outspoken hawk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu navigated a fine line in his comments immediately after Trump's announcement.

"This is, of course, an American decision," Netanyahu said in a statement released Wednesday, noting that Trump and his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had alerted him to the move before they made it public.

"We will learn its schedule, its mode of operation and of course the implications for us," he added. "In any event, we will make sure to maintain Israel's security and protect ourselves from this arena."

At the same time, in recorded remarks, Netanyahu made clear the U.S. decision will not affect Israel's own military activities in Syria.

"Israel continues its operation against the Hamas terror tunnels, and will do so until its completion," he said, referring to the country's attempts to block tunnels that Palestinian militants have built to infiltrate Israeli territory. "As we speak, we're employing special means to neutralize these tunnels."

Coupled with those efforts along its border with the Gaza Strip, Israel recently launched a similar operation on its border with Lebanon, intended to "expose and destroy" tunnels built by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

Israel has attacked Iranian forces directly in Syria, carrying out airstrikes on what it calls dozens of Iranian military targets in the country. About four months ago, Israeli intelligence forces also reportedly assassinated a Syrian rocket scientist who they believed had been collaborating with Iran.

"We will continue to take very strong action against Iran's efforts to entrench in Syria," Netanyahu added. "In neither of these fronts do we intend to lessen our efforts; we will intensify them, and I know that we do so with the full support and backing of the United States."

Turkey steps up the pressure — but toward what end?

The Turkish military has long had an intense interest in its neighbor to the east — an interest that flared into violence earlier this year, when Turkey launched an operation to clear Kurdish fighters from the borderlands between the two countries.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan views the YPG, a Syrian Kurdish militia, as a terrorist organization allied with the separatist Kurdish groups operating within his own borders. But that view was not shared by the U.S., which irked its NATO ally with its decision to arm and support the YPG in the fight against ISIS.

Now that Turkey is eyeing a future in Syria without U.S. invention, its leaders have sent some mixed signals on what it plans to do next.

On the one hand, during a joint news conference Thursday with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency reports that Erdogan announced an intention to "increase our efforts to ensure permanent peace that will embrace Syria and whole Syrian people" — and he vowed to cooperate closely with Iran toward that end.

On the other hand, Erdogan's top ministers appear to be gearing up for battle.

Kurdish terrorists are "digging some trenches and tunnels in Manbij and east of the Euphrates," Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told troops Thursday, saying the Turkish military is preparing "intensely" for a new offensive, according to Anadolu.

"Whatever they dig, trenches or tunnels," he added, "when the time comes they will be buried in the trenches that they dig. Of this there should be no doubt."

Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed news of the U.S. withdrawal, saying during a news conference Thursday, "Donald is right, I agree with him," according to NPR's Lucian Kim.

ISIS has suffered serious blows in Syria, Putin said.

But while the Russian president agreed with Trump's talk of leaving, he also suggested he would wait and see what the U.S. does.

Kim paraphrased Putin's observation that "We haven't seen any signs of U.S. withdrawal from Syria yet. [The ] U.S. has been in Afghanistan 17 years and almost every year they say they're leaving."

Putin also reiterated that in his view, the U.S. troop presence in Syria "is illegitimate as it was not approved by a U.N. Security Council resolution."

By contrast, he noted, "Russian troops were invited by the Syrian government."

France: ISIS "has not been wiped from the map"

In announcing his decision to withdraw troops from Syria, Trump declared that "we have defeated ISIS in Syria" — but that view is far from shared by a close U.S. ally.

"Daesh is weaker than ever," Florence Parly, France's armed forces minister, said Thursday on Trump's medium of choice, referring to ISIS by its Arabic acronym.

"But," she added, "Daesh has not been removed from the map, nor have its roots. The last pockets of this terrorist organization must be defeated militarily once and for all."

"In the coming weeks, France will endeavor to ensure the security of all U.S. partners, including the Syrian Democratic Forces," a ministry spokesperson said in a media briefing Thursday. "The United States must take the protection of the populations of northeastern Syria and the stability of this area into consideration in order to avoid any further humanitarian tragedies and any return by the terrorists."
Reacting to yesterday's announcement by the United States on the withdrawal of their forces from Syria, France's Defense Minister Florence Parly says on Twitter that ISIL has not yet been driven out of Syria.