The United States is committed to continuing its mission against ISIS in Syria. During a Monday press briefing, Pentagon Deputy Press Secretary Sabrina Singh explained that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin informed his Turkish counterpart that the US is closely monitoring opposition groups in Syria.
Singh said, “And just yesterday, US Central Command forces conducted dozens of precision airstrikes within Syria, targeting ISIS camps and operatives in the Badiya desert to prevent ISIS from conducting external operations and to ensure that they can't take advantage of the current situation to reconstitute in central Syria.” She added that this operation targeted over 75 sites, utilizing various US Air Force assets like B-52s, F-15s, and A-10s, and damage assessments are ongoing.
Singh emphasized that the US mission is not to increase troop levels in Syria but to continue working with regional allies to degrade ISIS capabilities.“ It is a moment of historic opportunity for the long-suffering people of Syria to build a better future for their country. It is also a moment of risk and uncertainty and so the United States will continue to work with our partners and with our stakeholders in Syria to help them seize the opportunity and to manage the risk,” she stated.
Addressing Russia's presence in Syria, Singh noted, “just given the fact that the Assad regime has fallen, I think shows how deeply weakened Iran is, how weakened Hezbollah is and of course Russia spending all its energy and resources in Ukraine shows their weakened state within Syria and their failure to be able to support one of their key allies in the region losing a critical point of contact for them within the Middle East.”
Regarding chemical weapons, Singh reaffirmed US efforts to prevent these weapons from falling into the wrong hands: “we're trying to make sure that those chemical weapons do not fall into the hands of anyone that would want to use them against civilians or against our US forces or partners in the region.”
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