Four US Soldiers Killed by Isis in Syria, Just Weeks After Trump Said 'We Have Defeated' Terror Group in Country
Attack targeted US coalition forces at restaurant in flashpoint city
Richard Hall Beirut @_richardhall
The Independent
Four American soldiers have been killed in a suicide attack claimed by Isis in northern Syria, according to a US officials.
The blast hit a busy restaurant in the centre of Manbij, a strategically important city which is regularly patrolled by the US-led coalition. More than a dozen civilians were among the dead, according to a war monitor, and three US soldiers were also wounded.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attack within an hour, saying the perpetrator had used an explosive vest. A spokesperson for the US-led coalition said in a statement US service members "were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today," without giving further details.
The attack represents the worst single loss of life for the US military in Syria since it first sent forces to fight Isis in 2015. It comes just weeks after US president Donald Trump declared that the terror group was defeated in Syria, and that the 2,000 US troops stationed in the country would be leaving.
“We have defeated Isis in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” the president wrote on Twitter on December 19.
Footage of the explosion shared on social media appears to show that it was detonated in a crowd, on a busy street. Another video showed a US helicopter evacuating wounded from the site of the attack.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that the president had been "fully briefed" and was following developments.
Mr Trump's abrupt withdrawal announcement last month caught officials within his own administration off-guard, and led to the resignation of defence secretary Jim Mattis.
Critics of the pull out argued that leaving so quickly could damage the fight against Isis, which was not yet over, and leave Washington’s Kurdish allies vulnerable to attack from Turkey.
Manbij, where Wednesday’s attack took place, has been at the centre of a power struggle between those Kurdish allies and Turkey. The city is controlled by fighters linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces — a Kurdish-led militia that has fought alongside the US against Isis.
But Turkey views the group as terrorists, and had called for Kurdish fighters to leave the city.
Following Mr Trump’s announcement that US forces would withdraw from Syria, the town has been bracing for a long-threatened Turkish incursion.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Insitute and author of a book on Isis, said the attack showed that Mr Trump's withdrawal was "extremely premature".
"There have also been clear signs for many months that Isis maintains the ability to conduct a low-level guerilla-style insurgency in Syria, as typified by today’s attack. This is precisely how this jihadist organisation has adapted and gone back on the attack in years past," he said.
"To suggest Isis is 'defeated' because it no longer controls territory is to fundamentally misunderstand how Isis and similar organizations seek to operate."
Richard Hall Beirut @_richardhall
The Independent
Four American soldiers have been killed in a suicide attack claimed by Isis in northern Syria, according to a US officials.
The blast hit a busy restaurant in the centre of Manbij, a strategically important city which is regularly patrolled by the US-led coalition. More than a dozen civilians were among the dead, according to a war monitor, and three US soldiers were also wounded.
Isis claimed responsibility for the attack within an hour, saying the perpetrator had used an explosive vest. A spokesperson for the US-led coalition said in a statement US service members "were killed during an explosion while conducting a routine patrol in Syria today," without giving further details.
The attack represents the worst single loss of life for the US military in Syria since it first sent forces to fight Isis in 2015. It comes just weeks after US president Donald Trump declared that the terror group was defeated in Syria, and that the 2,000 US troops stationed in the country would be leaving.
“We have defeated Isis in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency,” the president wrote on Twitter on December 19.
Footage of the explosion shared on social media appears to show that it was detonated in a crowd, on a busy street. Another video showed a US helicopter evacuating wounded from the site of the attack.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said that the president had been "fully briefed" and was following developments.
Mr Trump's abrupt withdrawal announcement last month caught officials within his own administration off-guard, and led to the resignation of defence secretary Jim Mattis.
Critics of the pull out argued that leaving so quickly could damage the fight against Isis, which was not yet over, and leave Washington’s Kurdish allies vulnerable to attack from Turkey.
Manbij, where Wednesday’s attack took place, has been at the centre of a power struggle between those Kurdish allies and Turkey. The city is controlled by fighters linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces — a Kurdish-led militia that has fought alongside the US against Isis.
But Turkey views the group as terrorists, and had called for Kurdish fighters to leave the city.
Following Mr Trump’s announcement that US forces would withdraw from Syria, the town has been bracing for a long-threatened Turkish incursion.
Charles Lister, a senior fellow at the Middle East Insitute and author of a book on Isis, said the attack showed that Mr Trump's withdrawal was "extremely premature".
"There have also been clear signs for many months that Isis maintains the ability to conduct a low-level guerilla-style insurgency in Syria, as typified by today’s attack. This is precisely how this jihadist organisation has adapted and gone back on the attack in years past," he said.
"To suggest Isis is 'defeated' because it no longer controls territory is to fundamentally misunderstand how Isis and similar organizations seek to operate."
No comments:
Post a Comment