WASHINGTON • US President Donald Trump has said he expects a formal announcement as early as next week that the coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has reclaimed all of the territory held previously by the militants.
"Their land is gone. It is a big factor - their land is gone," Mr Trump said on Wednesday to foreign ministers and other senior officials from 79 countries that have worked alongside the US in fighting the militant group in Syria and Iraq.
Mr Trump's decision to withdraw US forces from Syria led to some criticism at home from Republican and Democratic lawmakers, who fear ISIS could regain its strength.
A top US Army commander for the region, General Joseph Votel, said in Senate testimony on Tuesday that the group could experience a resurgence after a US pullout.
Mr Trump did not back down from his determination to withdraw, saying: "We look forward to giving our brave warriors in Syria a warm welcome home."
"The United States military, our coalition partners and the Syrian Democratic Forces have liberated virtually all of the territory previously held by ISIS in Syria and Iraq," Mr Trump told the gathering at the State Department.
He said the achievement "should be formally announced, sometime, probably next week, that we will have 100 per cent of the caliphate".
Earlier, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reassured coalition partners that the withdrawal of US troops from Syria was not "the end of America's fight", and asked them to help defeat ISIS permanently.
"The US troops withdrawing from Syria is not the end of America's fight. The fight is one we will continue to wage alongside you," Mr Pompeo said. "The drawdown in troops is essentially a tactical change, it is not a change in the mission. It simply represents a new stage in an old fight."
Warnings by Mr Pompeo and others that ISIS remained a dangerous threat fly in the face of Mr Trump's December declaration that the militants had been defeated and the US would withdraw its roughly 2,000 troops from Syria.
Mr Trump's sudden decision shocked coalition partners, including an alliance of Kurdish and Arab militias that has been among the most effective against ISIS, and prompted the abrupt resignation of Defence Secretary Jim Mattis.
Wednesday's meeting was the first of senior coalition officials since Mr Trump announced the troop pullout. Participants included foreign ministers from Turkey, France, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco and Iraq.
Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohamed al-Hakim called on countries to help expose ISIS sleeper cells in Iraq and restore stability.
Mr Pompeo said that despite progress in fighting ISIS in Iraq, the group retained a strong presence in the country and was trying to mount a clandestine insurgency.
Earlier, Mr Trump said it was important to keep a US military presence in Iraq so that Washington could keep a close eye on Iran, according to a CBS interview aired on Sunday. However, Iraqi President Barham Salih said on Monday that Mr Trump did not ask Iraq's permission for US troops stationed there to "watch Iran". The US and Iran are Iraq's two biggest allies.
On Wednesday, Mr Hakim, apparently responding to Mr Trump's comment, called on countries to show full "respect for the territorial integrity of Iraq and for all operations to take place with the knowledge of Iraq, and in consultations with Iraqi security forces".
REUTERS
