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Trump urges Europe to 'take back' Daesh fighters

February 17, 2019 at 1:17 pm

US President Donald Trump makes a speech during the meeting of the Ministers of the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh, at the State Department in Washington, United States on 6 February 2019 [Mustafa Kamacı/Anadolu Agency]

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday the United States was asking European allies to “take back over 800” Daesh fighters captured in Syria and put them on trial.

“The United States is asking Britain, France, Germany and other European allies to take back over 800 ISIS [Daesh] fighters that we captured in Syria and put them on trial,” he said in a Tweet. “The Caliphate is ready to fall. The alternative is not a good one in that we will be forced to release them…”

“….The US does not want to watch as these ISIS [Daesh] fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go. We do so much, and spend so much – Time for others to step up and do the job that they are so capable of doing. We are pulling back after 100% Caliphate victory!”

Trump has sworn to pull US forces from Syria after Daesh’s territorial defeat, raising questions over the fate of Washington’s Kurdish allies and Turkish involvement in northeast Syria.

US-backed fighters in Syria are poised to capture Daesh’s last, tiny enclave on the Euphrates, the battle commander said on Saturday, bringing its self-declared caliphate to the brink of total defeat.

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