US Army to Fight Qaeda in Syria even after ISIS Defeat

Syrian Arab trainees practice firing their small arms at an undisclosed training range in northern Syria on Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert Burns)
Syrian Arab trainees practice firing their small arms at an undisclosed training range in northern Syria on Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert Burns)
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US Army to Fight Qaeda in Syria even after ISIS Defeat

Syrian Arab trainees practice firing their small arms at an undisclosed training range in northern Syria on Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert Burns)
Syrian Arab trainees practice firing their small arms at an undisclosed training range in northern Syria on Saturday, May 21, 2016. (AP Photo/Robert Burns)

Col. John Thomas, spokesman for the US Central Command (CENTCOM), said that the international coalition forces would remain in Syria to support the operations of the Arab-Kurdish “Syrian Democratic Forces” until the conclusion of negotiations on a political solution in Geneva.

He added that the US forces would continue to fight terrorist organizations close to “al- Qaeda” in Syria, including al-Nusra Front, “regardless of ISIS presence.”

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat in London, Col. Thomas reviewed the military operations overseen or conducted by the US Central Command in Yemen, Syria and Iraq.

He explained that the US was not involved in any way in the civil war in Yemen, adding that his country had three missions there: “The first is to fight Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula; the second to combat the Yemeni ISIS, the fighters of which are estimated to be hundreds, mostly Yemenis; and the third task is to support Saudi Arabia in protecting its borders, including protecting it from missiles fired at Saudi cities.”

“We have a small team in Riyadh that supports the Saudis in protecting their borders through the exchange of intelligence information,” Thomas said.

Thomas noted in his talk about the raids carried out by US forces in Yemen, that they were executed in coordination with the Yemeni legitimate authorities, stressing that President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi was notified of all moves.

On the Syrian front, Thomas emphasized that despite the contribution of Russia and Bashar Assad’s regime, the victory over ISIS was mainly the achievement of the Syrian Democratic Forces and the international alliance.

The spokesman said the US would remain in Syria to support the Syrian Democratic Forces until the end of the Geneva talks.

“We continue to train the Syrian security forces in al-Raqqa, as we did in Manbaj, as well as clearing areas, that were controlled by ISIS, from bombs, mines and others,” he said, pointing out that the return of hundreds of thousands of residents to their land and the reconstruction process depend on the establishment of security.

As for the terrorist threat posed by al-Nusra Front, the CENTCOM spokesman stressed the need to distinguish between the mission of the international coalition against ISIS and that of the United States, saying that the US would pursue Qaeda and its affiliated organizations “regardless of the presence of ISIS”.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.