WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo acknowledged on Tuesday that Daesh militants are gaining strength in some areas but said the militant group’s capacity to conduct attacks has been greatly diminished.
“It’s complicated. There are certainly places where ISIS is more powerful today than they were three or four years ago,” Pompeo said in an interview with CBS “This Morning” using an acronym for Daesh. But he said the group’s self-proclaimed caliphate is gone and its attack capability has been made much more difficult.
Pompeo was asked about a New York Times report that the Islamic militant group was gaining new strength in Iraq and Syria.
President Donald Trump said in December that US troops succeeded in their mission to defeat Daesh in Syria and were no longer needed in the country. “We won,” he said at the time.
Pompeo said the plan to defeat Daesh in the region was executed with 80 other countries and was very successful.
However, he cautioned that there is always risk that there will be a resurgence of “radical Islamic terrorist groups,” including Al-Qaeda and Daesh.
Daesh claimed responsibility for a wedding suicide attack that killed 63 people and wounded 182 on Saturday in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
US Secretary of State Pompeo says Daesh strong in some areas -CBS
US Secretary of State Pompeo says Daesh strong in some areas -CBS
- Pompeo said the plan to defeat Daesh in the region was executed with 80 other countries
- He cautioned that there is always risk that there will be a resurgence of “radical Islamic terrorist groups”
Syrian Democratic Forces withdraws from east of Aleppo
RIYADH: Syrian Democratic Forces have withdrawn from positions east of Aleppo, according to SDF head Mazloum Abdi.
He announced Friday that SDF will withdraw from east of Aleppo at 7 AM local time on Saturday and redeploy them to areas east of the Euphrates, citing calls from friendly countries and mediators.
Hours earlier, a U.S. military designation had visited Deir Hafer and met with SDF officials in an apparent attempt to tamp down tensions.
The U.S. has good relations with both sides and has urged calm. A spokesperson for the U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Shortly before Abdi’s announcement, interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa had announced issuance of a decree strengthening Kurdish rights.
A wave of displacement
Earlier in the day, hundreds of people carrying their belongings arrived in government-held areas in northern Syria ahead of the anticipated offensive by Syrian troops on territory held by Kurdish-led fighters.
Many of the civilians who fled were seen using side roads to reach government-held areas because the main highway was blocked at a checkpoint in the town of Deir Hafer controlled by the SDF.
The Syrian army said late Wednesday that civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday and then extended the evacuation period another day, saying the SDF had stopped civilians from leaving.
There had been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides in the area before that.
Men, women and children arrived on the government side of the line in cars and pickup trucks that were packed with bags of clothes, mattresses and other belongings. They were met by local officials who directed them to shelters.
* with input from Reuters, AP
