<p>Washington: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/us-army">US military</a> is set to consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday, in a move that could reduce the number of troops it has in the country by half.</p><p>The US military has about 2,000 US troops in Syria across a number of bases, mostly in the northeast. The troops are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.</p><p>One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000.</p>.Trump administration proposes scrapping UN peacekeeping funding.<p>Another US official confirmed the plan for a reduction, but said there was no certainty on numbers and was skeptical of a decrease of that scale at a time when President Donald Trump's administration has been negotiating with Iran and building up forces in the region.</p><p>The United States has recently sent aircraft including B-2 bombers, warships and air defense systems to reinforce the Middle East.</p><p>Trump said on Monday that he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran's atomic facilities.</p><p>Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is carrying out a global review of US military troops around the world.</p><p>The Islamist-led government in Syria that took over after Bashar Assad was ousted in December has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield.</p><p>The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US, last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.</p><p>The US gave Syria a list in March of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the Trump administration has otherwise engaged little with the country's new rulers.</p><p>Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum. </p>
<p>Washington: The <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/tags/us-army">US military</a> is set to consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months, two US officials told Reuters on Tuesday, in a move that could reduce the number of troops it has in the country by half.</p><p>The US military has about 2,000 US troops in Syria across a number of bases, mostly in the northeast. The troops are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back.</p><p>One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000.</p>.Trump administration proposes scrapping UN peacekeeping funding.<p>Another US official confirmed the plan for a reduction, but said there was no certainty on numbers and was skeptical of a decrease of that scale at a time when President Donald Trump's administration has been negotiating with Iran and building up forces in the region.</p><p>The United States has recently sent aircraft including B-2 bombers, warships and air defense systems to reinforce the Middle East.</p><p>Trump said on Monday that he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran's atomic facilities.</p><p>Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is carrying out a global review of US military troops around the world.</p><p>The Islamist-led government in Syria that took over after Bashar Assad was ousted in December has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield.</p><p>The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the US, last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.</p><p>The US gave Syria a list in March of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the Trump administration has otherwise engaged little with the country's new rulers.</p><p>Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum. </p>