US to halve its troops in Syria

WASHINGTON - The United States will roughly halve its troops in Syria to less than 1,000 in the coming months, said a US military official on Friday.

"Today the secretary of defense directed the consolidation of US forces in Syria," said Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement, "This deliberate and conditions-based process will bring the US footprint in Syria down to less than 1,000 US forces in the coming months."

He added that the US Central Command will "remain poised to continue strikes against the remnants of IS in Syria."

Over 5,000 US troops have been deployed in Iraq to support the Iraqi forces during the battles against the Islamic State (IS) militants since 2014.

The troops were part of the US-led international coalition against IS targets in both Iraq and Syria.

The Syrian government has repeatedly accused the US forces of stealing Syrian oil and depriving the Syrians of their own resources amid a harsh economic situation caused largely by the US sanctions.

The US forces have established various bases in the oil-rich areas in northeastern Syria's Al-Hasakah province and took control of the oil and gas fields there.