President Trump to leave 200 troops in Syria as "peacekeeping group": White House
Washington : The Trump administration will leave 200 US troops in Syria to act as a "small peacekeeping group", the White House has announced following President Donald Trump's order for a "full" withdrawal of the American military from the war-torn country.
The White House announced the decision on Thursday after Trump spoke with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan over the phone.
"A small peacekeeping group of about 200 will remain in Syria for a period of time," White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement after the call between the two leaders.
In December, Trump abruptly declared victory against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria and announced that the more than 2,000 US troops in Syria would be withdrawn immediately.
The president ordered staff to execute the "full" and "rapid" withdrawal of US military from Syria, declaring that the US had defeated ISIS.
The administration has since changed its timeline and said that it will seek a withdrawal of most troops by the end of April.
Trump's surprise decision prompted the resignation of former Defense Secretary James Mattis and the president has since received strong pushback from lawmakers who worry the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kurdish forces who helped in the fight against ISIS would be threatened by Turkey without US protection.
According a White House readout of the call, the two leaders underscored the importance of the bilateral relationship and discussed a number of issues including Syria and trade.
"On Syria, the two Presidents agreed to continue coordinating on the creation of a potential safe zone," the White House said.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Joseph Dunford will be hosting their Turkish counterparts in Washington this week for further talks.
Senator Lindsay Graham praised Trump for his decision to leave 200 American troops in Syria as part of an international stabilising force.
"This will ensure ISIS does not return and Iran does not fill the vacuum that would have been left if we completely withdrew. This also ensures Turkey and SDF elements that helped us defeat ISIS will not go into conflict," Graham said.
Currently the US has some 2,000 troops in Syria.
The US troop withdrawal has left America's Kurdish allies vulnerable to an attack from Turkey. Ankara views the Kurdish forces as terrorists aligned with insurgents inside Turkey.
Last month, Trump threatened to "devastate" Turkey economically if the NATO-allied nation attacks US-backed Kurdish forces in Syria following the US pullout and also urged the Kurds not to "provoke" Ankara.
Ground troops first arrived in Syria in autumn 2015 when then-President Barack Obama sent in a small number of special forces to train and advise YPG fighters.
A peaceful uprising against the president of Syria President Bashar al-Assad seven years ago turned into a full-scale civil war. The conflict has left more than 350,000 people dead, devastated cities and drawn in other countries.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
