US to withdraw 1,000 troops from Syria

Washington - US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday President Donald Trump had ordered the withdrawal of up to 1,000 troops from northern Syria, as the number of people fleeing a Turkish assault soared to 130,000.

“I spoke with the president last night after discussions with the rest of the national security team and he directed that we begin a deliberate withdrawal of forces from northern Syria,” Esper told CBS’s Face the Nation.

Esper told Fox News that the number of troops being pulled back totaled “less than a thousand.”