Emmanuel Macron expresses ‘deep regrets’ on US Syria withdrawal

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – France’s President Emmanuel Macron has expressed his regret with his American counterpart’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria.

“An ally should be dependable,” Macron said at a press conference during his visit to Chad. “I very deeply regret the decision made on Syria.”

In a surprise statement on Dec. 19, the White House announced it was withdrawing US forces from Syria east of the Euphrates.

America has approximately 2,000 troops in Syria where they have been backing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS).

Paris has strongly criticized US President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw US forces, arguing that the IS fight is not over. France has also said it would keep its troops there for now.

On Friday, French officials met with two senior Kurdish representatives from Syria “to express their support and solidarity,” Kurdish news outlet Ahval reported.

France has suffered several major terrorist assaults, since the rise of IS. The most notable was a series of coordinated attacks on Nov. 13, 2015, that killed 130 people in the center of Paris.

The last terrorist incident was a shooting at Strasbourg’s Christmas Market which killed five people just 10 days ago.

As part of the US-led coalition, Paris is determined to continue fighting the extremist group and ensure its lasting defeat.