In January, French President Emmanuel Macron said that France would continue being militarily engaged in the Middle East in the international coalition throughout 2019 as, according to the president, the battle against Assad was not over.
The statement came a day after a bombing killed at least 16 people, including two US soldiers. Now the potential withdrawal of French troops from Syria is currently under discussion.
According to a recent report from French news station BFM TV, roughly 130 French mercenaries who joined in the ranks of ISIS are expected to be released from jail in Syria and repatriated to France to face trial.
The development reportedly came about after Kurdish forces began questioning their ability to continue safeguarding the jails after US forces withdraw from the region.
Bloomberg reported that an estimated 2,000 French nationalists are said to have joined the ISIS terror group since the Syrian war began in 2011.
On April 14, 2018 the F-UK-US coalition (France, United Kingdom, the United States) launched strikes at Syria over alleged reports of a chemical attack in the city of Douma, with the three countries firing over 100 missiles at Damascus.
French President Emmanuel Macron in an interview with Fox News said that the USA, France and allies must remain in Syria to build a “new Syria” and counter Iran’s influence in the region.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has pledged to withdraw French troops from Syria as soon as “a political solution” is clinched.
In separate development, advisers to French President Emmanuel Macron reportedly met with Kurdish militants representing the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and assured them of future support from Paris.
Sputnik / ABC Flash Point Invasion News 2019.
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