The commander of the Syrian Kurdish forces in the northern part of the country condemned President Trump’s decision to remove U.S. soldiers from the area.
“You are not willing to protect the people, but you do not want another force to come and protect us,” Gen. Mazloum Kobani Abdi, who leads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said Saturday, days after President Trump announced the withdrawal of American troops from northern Syria. “You have sold us. This is immoral.”
He added, “You have given up on us. You are leaving us to be slaughtered.”
Trump has come under fire since announcing his intent to remove the U.S. presence from the area, which is occupied by the Kurds, who are American allies. Following the news, Turkey, which views the Kurds as terrorists, announced on Wednesday its plans to invade the region, and eyewitness reports said bombings had started the day before.
Many saw the president’s move as him giving Turkey the “green light” to attack the Kurds. Defense Secretary Mark Esper, on the other hand, insisted the United States has not abandoned them.
“To be clear, we are not abandoning our Kurdish partner forces and U.S. troops remain with them in other parts of Syria,” he said Friday. “We oppose and are greatly disappointed by Turkey’s decision to launch a unilateral military incursion into northern Syria.”
On Friday, a Pentagon official said that Turkey had bombed an area near U.S. Special Forces, which the country has called a mistake. However, the Turkish government knows the locations of U.S. troops in the area, and U.S. officials are unsure if the attack was deliberate.
