Emmanuel Macron: France will remain "militarily committed to the Levant" in 2019

France will remain "militarily committed to the Levant in the international coalition in the coming year", because "any rush to withdraw would be a mistake," said Thursday Emmanuel Macron during his wishes to the French armies. "The announced withdrawal of Syria from our American ally should not deflect us from our strategic objective: to eradicate Daesh (the Islamic State group, nd) by depriving this terrorist organization of any territorial footprint and preventing its resurgence," he said. he insisted in front of a pit of soldiers, on a base of the Army near Toulouse.

"We will remain invested to participate in the stabilization of the region". "The fight is not over," he said, saying he had "a special thought for our four American friends fallen on Syrian soil", killed Wednesday with twelve other people in a suicide attack claimed by the EI to Minbej. Over the next few months, "we will adapt our overall military system to the operations and the political situation", but "we will remain invested to participate in the stabilization of the region" of the Levant, which includes several countries of the Middle East, including Syria. "Any rush to withdraw would be a mistake," he concluded.

LIVE I Greetings to the armies from the Toulouse-Francazal military base.https: //t.co/6cjOiJ1Ns4

1,200 French soldiers mobilized in the coalition. US President Donald Trump took his allies by surprise in mid-December, claiming that the international coalition led by the United States had "defeated" IS, and ordered the immediate withdrawal of 2,000 US troops deployed in Syria. But over the weeks, the timing of this withdrawal has become increasingly blurred and the Trump administration has set conditions for its completion, including the defense of Washington's allies and a lasting defeat of ISIS. France, hit since 2015 by several attacks claimed by the IS, mobilizes 1,200 soldiers for the benefit of the coalition against this organization, via air operations (5 to 10% of strikes), special forces in Syria, artillery and training sessions of the Iraqi army.