Former US Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller hoped the US and the global coalition would continue supporting the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in protecting prisons and detention centers containing ISIS members and supervising camps of ISIS families.
The former official said that the next step for these forces is to fight the drug empire, noting that there is an opportunity for the international coalition to change its tasks from fighting ISIS to supporting the war against drugs.
Miller discussed with Kurdish officials the challenges they face and the Turkish threats destabilizing the region.
He also commented on the deteriorating security situation in Afrin, under the control of armed factions loyal to Türkiye. He accused the Turkish government of using water as a weapon against civilians and residents of the administration areas in eastern Syria.
During his meetings with Kurdish officials, the US official discussed the role of the global coalition forces in combating terrorism and defeating ISIS cells.
In a press statement, Miller said that the US needs to support the Autonomous Administration, reiterating the need for regional stability.
He called on the countries and governments of the coalition to support stabilization operations in these areas, which witnessed, during the years of the Syrian war, the control of several military parties, namely the ISIS terrorist organization.
He addressed the Turkish threats, the need to achieve safety and prosperity, and the support for the civil Administration economically and politically.
He pointed out that the combat operations of the coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces are continuing in the east of the country and inside the camps and prisons.
The primary military campaign has ended, but the war continues, said Miller, adding that Washington and the coalition must support the SDF and the people of northeastern Syria.
Miller explained that Türkiye is waging an open war against the areas of Administration and its military wing and forcing people to leave their homeland, the residents of Afrin who left after the Turkish Operation Peace Spring in March 2018.
- General Kurilla
On Wednesday, the US Central Command Commander, General Michael Kurilla, visited al-Hol and Roj camps in the far north-east of Syria.
Kurilla assured officials that the ongoing multinational effort to repatriate the residents of the camps to their countries of origin not only enhances security and stability in the region but eases the humanitarian challenge.
Meanwhile, head of the foreign relations department at AANES, Badran Jia Kurd, said the discussions with Miller addressed ways to combat terrorism and the conditions of ISIS prisoners and their families in the camps.
The official told Asharq Al-Awsat that during his meeting with the US official, they stressed the need to continue international efforts to prevent ISIS’s re-emergence.
Jia Kurd stressed the need to find immediate and urgent solutions for the residents of the al-Hol and Roj camps and work to return them to their original countries, concluding that the meeting focused on preventing the organization's cells from remerging and eliminating the remaining active cells in eastern Syria.
