U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Tuesday that Washington aimed to bring U.S. troops withdrawing from Syria back to the United States, and not for them to stay in Iraq "interminably".
"The aim isn't to stay in Iraq interminably, the aim is to pull our soldiers out and eventually get them back home," Esper said in front of a Patriot missile battery at the Prince Sultan Air Base near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Esper said the details had not yet been worked out on how long the U.S. troops would stay in Iraq and he would be having discussions with his Iraqi counterpart on Wednesday.
On Oct. 9, Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring to eliminate terrorists from northern Syria east of the Euphrates River in order to secure Turkey’s borders, aid in the safe return of Syrian refugees, and ensure Syria’s territorial integrity.
The pause for the anti-terror operation will end Tuesday night.
In talks Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. Vice President Mike Pence also agreed on Turkey having a safe zone 32-kilometer (20-mile) deep south of the Turkish border in northern Syria.
