The comments by a senior US military official come as the US readies its forces for withdrawal from Syria.
By ZACK EVANSUpdated: FEBRUARY 18, 2019 10:11A MEMBER of ISIS waves the group’s flag in Raqqa(photo credit: REUTERS)
More than 1,000 ISIS fighters have likely fled Syria for western Iraq in the last six months, according to a senior US military official in a report by CNN.The fighters may have smuggled about $200 million with them.The comments come as US President Donald Trump pushes to remove American forces from Syria, after Trump declared ISIS "defeated" on December 19. About 2,000 American troops are currently stationed in Syria.According to reports, the Pentagon plans to remove all American forces from Syria by the end of April.An estimated 20 to 30 thousand ISIS fighters remain in the Middle East, according to four-star Gen. Joseph Votel, who is charge of US military operations in the Middle East. More than half of those fighters are in Iraq.Many of the remaining ISIS fighters are former al-Qaeda members.Even after Trump announced the defeat of ISIS, the terror group managed to attack and kill American troops in Syria in December, as well as execute a string of attacks on US-led coalition forces made up of Syrian and Kurdish forces deep inside areas that were "liberated" from ISIS in 2016.