Pentagon develops plans to withdraw all US troops from Syria - Media.

The US Department of Defense is developing plans to withdraw all American troops from Syria. This was reported by NBC News citing two US defense officials, European Truth reports.

President Donald Trump and his close aides have recently expressed interest in withdrawing American troops from Syria, officials said, prompting the Pentagon to start developing plans for a full withdrawal within 30, 60, or 90 days.

Mike Waltz, Trump's new national security advisor, spent Friday at the US Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, meeting with senior American military leadership and receiving briefings on the Middle East, US defense representatives said.

A White House representative stated that the potential reduction of US forces in Syria was not a topic of the briefing or a purpose of Waltz's visit.

'I don't know who said that. I mean, I don't know who said that, but we will make a decision on it. We are not going, we are not engaged in Syria,' Trump replied.

'Syria is (their) own mess. They have plenty of problems there. They don't need us to be involved in every one,' he added.

At the end of 2019, Trump ordered Defense Secretary James Mattis to withdraw all American troops from Syria. Mattis opposed this plan and eventually resigned in protest.

Trump withdrew most of the American troops but later returned them. Since then, the American presence in Syria has continued.

In December, the Pentagon announced that about 2,000 troops were deployed in Syria, which is more than double the number military officials have talked about for years - around 900.

The Pentagon spokesperson then referred to the additional 1,100 service members as 'temporary rotational forces' stationed there for 30 to 90 days, while the 900 were 'core' forces deployed there for about a year.

The Pentagon states that the military mission in Syria aims to weaken the terrorist group 'Islamic State' and support local partners operating there. These include the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition of Kurdish-led militias and rebel groups.

Defense department representatives warn that the withdrawal of American troops from Syria leaves the Syrian Democratic Forces vulnerable and threatens the security of more than two dozen prisons and refugee camps, which house over 50,000 people, including about 9,000 ISIS militants.

The Syrian Democratic Forces guard facilities where men, women, and children are held, but they rely on support and funding from the US and allies to keep them operational.

Without American troops to support military operations and detention operations, the Syrian Democratic Forces might prioritize offensive operations and leave prisons and camps, potentially releasing thousands of ISIS fighters.