{"text":[[{"start":8.7,"text":"Washington has significantly reduced its troop presence in Syria, its special envoy to the country Thomas Barrack has said, amid warming ties with Damascus after a rebel uprising toppled former president Bashar al-Assad in December. "}],[{"start":26.65,"text":"The reduction reflects the shifting regional security landscape and improved relations between the former pariah state and the White House. It follows a Pentagon announcement earlier this year that the US would consolidate bases and troop numbers."}],[{"start":44.33,"text":"The troop drawdown is “happening”, Barrack, who also serves as US ambassador to Ankara, told Turkish broadcaster NTV in an interview on Monday evening. “We’ve gone from eight bases, to five, to three. We’ll eventually go to one,” he said, adding that regional partners would need to bolster a new security arrangement. "}],[{"start":69.07,"text":"“Our job is not as a security guarantor for everybody and all sides of this,” Barrack said, adding that there was an opportunity to “have a new dialogue for everybody in the region free of American intervention”."}],[{"start":84.89999999999999,"text":"In April, the Pentagon said the military would reduce troops in Syria’s north-east, where it has based its counter-Isis operation since 2014, from 2,000 to “less than 1,000”, reflecting the “success the United States has had against Isis”."}],[{"start":103.13,"text":"The shift also reflects President Donald Trump’s long-held aversion to keeping US troops in Syria. In 2018, during his first term, Trump ordered the withdrawal of all US troops from northeastern Syria before reversing his decision two months later."}],[{"start":123.61,"text":"At that time, the move caused panic among the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which have run a de facto state in the north-east for years. They have been armed and trained by the US after Washington identified the SDF as its main local partner in the fight against Isis. "}],[{"start":144.9,"text":"But the SDF’s presence on the border region with Turkey has long riled Ankara, which considers the militants as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), a separatist group that has fought a four-decade insurgency against the Turkish state but said last month it would disband."}],[{"start":164.49,"text":"Turkey has launched several offensives into Syria since 2016 to push the SDF back from its borders, and has armed and trained Syrian factions to counter the Kurdish militants. "}],[{"start":179.28,"text":"After Trump was elected to a second term, the SDF began preparing for a scenario in which US troops would be withdrawn once more. That accelerated with the fall of Assad in December."}],[{"start":193.91,"text":"In March, the US-backed SDF, which is estimated to have more than 60,000 fighters on its payroll, reached an agreement to integrate the group into the central government’s military and civil institutions, marking a significant breakthrough for interim authorities as they seek to extend control over the fragmented country. "}],[{"start":217.6,"text":"That deal is due to be enacted by the end of the year, but there has been little progress on implementation as talks between the two sides stumbled over technicalities."}],[{"start":229.2,"text":"Although territorially defeated in 2019, Isis remains a potent source of instability in Syria, particularly since Assad’s ousting created a security vacuum. The Pentagon has said it has carried out “dozens” of air strikes targeting Isis over the past year, to “deny them the ability to regain strength”."}],[{"start":253.64999999999998,"text":"A patchwork of rebel factions, many — but not all — loyal to President Ahmed al-Sharaa, are maintaining security as the government works to merge them into one centralised military. "}],[{"start":268.48999999999995,"text":"Isis has sought to exploit that vacuum. Last week, it claimed responsibility for two attacks targeting the new government in southern Sweida province, where Isis has been relatively inactive in recent years. The area is controlled by the Druze minority, which has not allowed central government forces to have a presence. "}],[{"start":293.11999999999995,"text":"Government forces have conducted raids against Isis operatives amid mounting concerns that it is regrouping."}],[{"start":301.94999999999993,"text":"The SDF runs prisons and camps holding tens of thousands of Isis fighters and their families. Concerns have grown among western and regional officials about the security of the facilities if the US withdraws completely and Damascus does not take control of them — a condition Washington imposed following the lifting of US sanctions last month."}],[{"start":334.28999999999996,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftmailbox.cn/album/a_1748954780_4119.mp3"}