BERLIN, Jan 9 (KUNA) -- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed on Thursday that his country's forces will remain in Syria after the "collapse of the Assad regime" to prevent the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) from returning to pose a threat.
This came in an interview with the Associated Press during his participation in the "Contact Group on Ukraine" meeting at the US military base (Ramstein) in Germany.
Austin said there was a need for US forces to remain in Syria to ensure the security of prisons where tens of thousands of IS fighters are being held.
The US has deployed about 2,000 troops in Syria to confront IS, although US President-elect Donald Trump tried in his first term in 2018 to withdraw these forces and recently stressed in a tweet on X the need for US forces in Syria to remain outside the conflict. (end) anj.aa