White House on guard against Islamic State resurgence in Syria

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Source: VOA/Agence France-Presse

December 08, 2024 0:03 AM
UPDATE December 08, 2024 0:16 AM


LOS ANGELES — The White House said Saturday that U.S. priorities in Syria now are to ensure the country's conflict does not encourage a resurgence of the Islamic State militant group or lead to a "humanitarian catastrophe." U.S. President Joe Biden and his team are monitoring the "extraordinary events in Syria" are in touch with regional partners, the White House said on Saturday.

"President Biden and his team are closely monitoring the extraordinary events in Syria and staying in constant touch with regional partners," the White House said in a statement. Spillover "is a concern," said national security adviser Jake Sullivan, with particular worry about the so-called Islamic State, also known as ISIS.

In previous phases of Syria's long-running civil war, "at its worst, we saw the explosion of ISIS onto the scene," he said at a conference in Simi Valley, California run by the Reagan National Defense Forum. The main priority is to ensure "that the fighting in Syria not lead to a resurgence of ISIS," Sullivan said. "We are going to take steps ourselves, directly and working with the Syrian Democratic Forces, the Kurds, to ensure that does not happen."

The U.S. has about 900 troops in Syria, including U.S. forces working with Kurdish allies in the opposition-held northeast to prevent any resurgence of the Islamic State group, according to The Associated Press.

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