France’s troops will remain in Syria, said French officials on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced the pullout of U.S. soldiers from the civil war-torn country.
“For now, of course, we remain in Syria [militarily],” Nathalie Loiseau, France’s European affairs minister, told CNEWS television.
French Defense Minister Florence Parly said on social media that the terrorist group Daesh is now weaker than ever. Daesh lost more than 90 percent of its territory as well as its logistics ability, she added.
“Daesh has not been wiped from the map nor have its roots,” she said: “The last pockets of this terrorist organization must be defeated militarily.”
France reportedly has some 1,000 troops in Syria, half of the U.S. number before the pullout.