US officials withdraw troops after IS 'defeat'

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US officials withdraw troops after IS 'defeat'.

The Pentagon said it was transitioning to the "next phase of the campaign" but did not give details. Some 2,000 troops have helped rid much of north-eastern Syria of IS, but pockets of fighters remain. It had been thought defence officials wanted to maintain a US presence to ensure IS did not rebuild.

Besides, all U.S. State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours, a U.S. official told Reuters, after the White House said it had started withdrawing U.S. forces. 

The official said the U.S. plans to pull military forces out of the country once the final stages of the last operation against Islamic State is complete, and that the time-frame for the troop pullout is expected to be between 60 to 100 days. 

The decision came after a phone call between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Friday. “Everything that has followed is implementing the agreement that was made in that call,” the official said.