Islamic State terror warning for UK and Europe if US pulls troops out of Syria

Donald Trump’s threat to withdraw US troops from northern Syria could increase the risk of Islamic State fighters carrying out terrorist attacks in Europe, a former Labour Cabinet minister has warned.

The US President is reported to have ordered officials to draw up plans to withdraw around 2,000 soldiers from the country following the collapse of the Assad regime in December.

The move would be part of a wider strategy by the Trump administration to bring troops home and focus on threats facing the US in the Indo-Pacific.

But there are fears in Whitehall and Westminster that a sudden withdrawal – which NBC News reported could take place in either 30, 60 or 90 days – could trigger a collapse in security in Kurdish-controlled northern Syria, where around 9,000 Isis fighters are being held in camps.

Lord Hain, a former Labour Cabinet minister, told The i Paper: “I am sympathetic to the Kurds in general but I am also very aware, having been a Middle East minister, that Syria is a very complicated society, very divided with a lot of different faiths and communities and political factions.

“This is not going to be an easy transition. In terms of the north, what worries me about the unilateral withdrawal of US support, they have been working with the Kurds and (Turkish President Recep) Erdogan has been seeking to work there and against Kurdish interests. 

“There is also oil in that part of Syria, you have a lot of competing interests there, and the elephant in the room is that there are Islamic State fighters and their dependants who have been incarcerated. I am really concerned about a breakout from these camps if the security situation deteriorates.

“That could destabilise not just Syria but potentially the wider region and potentially see terrorist strikes in Europe and elsewhere.”

Trump clearly wanted to “bring the boys back home” in pulling US troops from international commitments, Hain said, adding: “It is a very one-dimensional stance that does not recognise the complexity of the situation.”

The former minister raised these concerns with ministers in the House of Lords earlier this week.

Foreign Office minister Lord Collins told him: “The first duty of every Government is to protect its citizens, and we are certainly cognisant of that in relation to those camps.”

Collins said the UK Government had also “noted” the decision by the Trump administration to pause foreign aid funding for three months, via USAid, which has caused widespread dismay in the international development sector.

The minister added: “We are working with our allies to ensure that there is stability in Syria and that Daesh’s territorial defeat endures and that it can never, ever resurge. 

“We are working closely with US colleagues and humanitarian partners to understand and assess the impact of the pause, but we are fairly confident that there will be continued support for the IDP [internally displaced persons] camps in the north.”

A Whitehall source told The i Paper that the UK government did not believe the US withdrawal was imminent.

In a sign of how the West changing its stance towards Syria’s new government, under interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, the Foreign Office announced this week that Britain will lift sanctions on Syria’s energy, transport and finance sectors.

Foreign Office minister Stephen Doughty said restrictions including asset freezes would remain in place on former president Bashar al-Assad and his family and associates that have been in place since 2011.

But the collapse of his regime and the takeover by opposition groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham has allowed for a change in UK sanctions policy towards Syria, Doughty said.

European and US oil companies, airlines and financial firms have called on Western governments to relax restrictions on the export of Syria’s resources and services under the new transition government.

The move, which is also under consideration by the EU, would see the resumption of commercial flights to the country as well as western financial and energy firms trading with Syria.

In a Commons written statement, Doughty said MPs would have a chance to debate the lifting of sanctions over the coming weeks.

He added: “We are making these changes to support the Syrian people in rebuilding their country and promote security and stability. 

“They will include the relaxation of restrictions that apply to the energy, transport and finance sectors, and provisions to further support humanitarian delivery.

“The Government remains determined to hold Bashar al-Assad and his associates to account for their actions against the people of Syria. We will ensure that asset freezes and travel bans imposed on members of the former regime remain in force.

“In this way, the FCDO will continue to use sanctions in a manner that is targeted, proportionate and robust to hold accountable those responsible for atrocious crimes committed during Assad’s reign and to support what we hope will be Syria’s transition to a more secure, prosperous and stable future.”