France plans to continue military presence in Syria and Iraq in 2019
Speaking at a military base near Toulouse on Thursday, French President Emmanuel Macron said that French troops will continue to take part in the activities of the international coalition in Syria and Iraq despite the announced withdrawal of the US troops.
The president addressed his speech being broadcast by his press service to military, “The retreat from Syria announced by our American friends cannot make us deviate from our strategic objective: eradicating Daesh, freeing all territories and preventing its revival.”
“The fight is not over… Islamists are still there. We will continue conducting new operations in the region. We will remain militarily engaged in the Levant in the international coalition over the coming year,” Macron said.
“We shall remain committed to participating in the stabilization in Syria until a comprehensive political solution is achieved and a relevant constitutional reform is carried out. We will continue our efforts by participating in the stabilization in the region,” Macron noted.
President Macron reaffirmed France’s commitment to fighting against the use of chemical weapons, promising to immediately respond to such actions. In this regard, he recalled the ‘outstanding’ military operation conducted in April 2018, when France, the United Kingdom and the United States dealt a massive strike on Syria in response to the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad military forces. Washington, London and Paris announced that the strikes were a response to the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Duma.