WASHINGTON, March 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) – U.S. President, Donald Trump claimed the “liberation” of all territory controlled by the Daesh in Syria and Iraq, while vowing to remain vigilant until “it is finally defeated.”
Trump said, the US, together with its partners, have liberated “100 Percent of ‘the caliphate.'”
“We will remain vigilant against the Daesh by aligning global counter-terrorism efforts to fight Daesh until it is finally defeated wherever it operates,” the president added.
The U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced Saturday, the defeat of the militant group in eastern Syria.
The victory ended the Daesh rule that once spanned a third of Iraq and Syria.
The SDF, with the help of the U.S.-led coalition, has been fighting the Daesh group in the region of the eastern bank of the Euphrates River since last Sept.
The Daesh emerged in Syria after the Syrian crisis began in 2011, after it was formed first in Iraq, amid the U.S.-led invasion of the country.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the group’s leader, broke ties with al-Qaeda and renamed his group “the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” in 2013.
In 2014, the extremist group captured Raqqa Province in Syria and declared the establishment of a caliphate.
Acting U.S. Secretary of Defence, Patrick Shanahan called the liberation of the territory “a critical milestone,” adding that, the work “is far from complete.”
“We will continue our work with the Global Coalition, to deny Daesh safe haven anywhere in the world,” Shanahan said.
Last month, Trump announced a small fraction of U.S. forces would remain in Syria with troops from other countries. Currently, there are about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria.
General Joseph Votel, head of the U.S. Central Command, said that, the operation against the Daesh was far from over.
“Reduction of the physical caliphate is a monumental military accomplishment — but the fight against the Daesh and violent extremism is far from over and our mission remains the same.”
U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who’s visiting Lebanon, told reporters that work remains to be done to “make sure that radical Islamic terrorism doesn’t continue to grow.”– NNN-AGENCIES
