PARIS: Britain, Germany and France, three of the United States’ main allies in the war against the militant Islamic State (IS) group, reacted with alarm on Thursday to President Donald Trump’s decision to pull US troops out of Syria — a move hailed by Russia.

France and Britain pledged to keep their forces in the field, warning that, contrary to Trump’s claim that IS had been “beaten badly”, the fight was far from over.

Around 2,000 US personnel are in the country, most of them on a train-and-advise mission to support local forces fighting IS. London and Paris have not disclosed how many military personnel they have in the region.

Take a look: Pulling out of Syria — & Afghanistan?

“We remain committed to the global coalition and the campaign to deny Daesh territory and ensure its enduring defeat, working alongside our critical regional partners in Syria and beyond,” a spokesman for Britain’s Prime Minister Theresa May said, using an alternative name for IS.

“The global coalition against Daesh has made huge progress, but much remains to be done and we must not lose sight of the threat they pose,” he added.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and the Kurdish-dominated force leading the fight against the militants said the move could jeopardise the gains made against the extremists, who still control small parts of eastern Syria.

A withdrawal could also have wider geopolitical ramifications.

Some US lawmakers warned it could encourage Turkey to attack the Kurdish forces that the US has been supporting in the fight against IS.

Trump on Wednesday abruptly ordered the withdrawal of all 2,000 US soldiers, mainly special forces, deployed in north-eastern Syria, in a short video posted on Twitter.

“We’ve won against ISIS.... We’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them badly. We’ve taken back the land. And now it’s time for our troops to come back home,” he said.

The announcement, which appeared to surprise both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, left unanswered a number of questions, notably as to the timing of the pullout and whether the US would continue to offer air support to its allies in the region.

Trump did not address the air campaign, in which the United States and partner nations, including France and Britain, have spent years pounding IS targets across the country.

Pentagon spokeswoman Commander Rebecca Rebarich said the US would continue its air war while American soldiers were in Syria — but would not say if the campaign would continue afterward.

IS has seen its self-proclaimed ‘caliphate’, which once straddled both sides of the Iraq-Syria border, shrink to just a few strongholds along the Euphrates Valley.

Published in Dawn, December 21st, 2018