Gen. White to North-Press: Mission in northeastern Syria unchanged, we will support SDF

General Pat White, Commanding General Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR).

Hasakah – North-Press Agency
Hoshang Hasan – Hadeel Oueis

 

General Pat White, Commanding General of Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), said on Friday that US plans for North and East Syria have not changed as the Coalition continues to support the SDF in the war against ISIS and provide it with intelligence, military, and aerial support as needed and required at this stage.

 

During a telephone conference, Gen. White told North-Press that the United States is committed to assisting the SDF’s special forces in protecting the prisons where ISIS militants are detained.

 

The assistance is takes the form of providing the security forces with modern surveillance techniques in addition to the necessary equipment for sterilization to prevent the spread of epidemics, according to Gen. White.

 

He also described the movement of SDF security forces to counter the insurgency in ISIS prisons in Hasakah last week as very professional and rapid.

 

General White said that what happened in Hasakah prison is that a group of prisoners believed that they had an opportunity to rebel and flee because of measures taken by the SDF to prevent the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, but the reaction was swift and security forces managed to return the prisoners to the center without any escapes.

 

Last week, al-Sinaa prison in Hasakah witnessed a state of disobedience which lasted for one day, and it was controlled after conducting joint negotiations between representatives of the SDF and Coalition forces on the one hand, and the detained ISIS members on the other hand.

 

In a statement, SDF spokesman Kino Gabriel called on the international community to assume its responsibilities to resolve the issue of the thousands of ISIS detainees in its prisons and to provide more support.

 

In response to a reporter's question about whether the US withdrawal last November gave Russian forces the opportunity to weaken the U.S. presence in North and East Syria, White said: "We have not withdrawn, and we are still present in the region with a sufficient number of forces, and we are supporting our SDF partners to continue the joint mission of ensuring that ISIS does not return and secure the Syrian-Iraqi borders in a sustainable manner.”