SULAIMANI (ESTA) — General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Mazloum Abdi said on Saturday he had met with U.S. and Coalition commanders in northeast Syria.
Abdi met with Lt. Gen. Paul T. Calvert, commander of the Coalition forces, and Marine Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, commander of the U.S. Central Command, in Rojava, areas under control of the Kurdish fighters in northeastern Syria.
McKenzie visited northeast Syria on an unannounced trip on Friday, following an unannounced stop in Baghdad.
“Was pleased to meet Gen. Calvert & Gen. McKenzie to discuss the security & economic challenges in the region,” Abdi said in a tweet.
“We have received messages about the continued presence of Coalition forces, joint cooperation to combat ISIS & efforts to protect & stabilize the region,” he added.
The Associated Press reported on Friday that McKenzie stopped at four U.S. outposts and had a short and direct message.
U.S. forces remain in Syria to fight the remnants of Islamic State (ISIS) militants, so the militants cannot regroup, he said.
McKenzie said it was important to keep the pressure on the ISIS militant group “because ISIS still has an aspirational goal to attack the United States homeland. We want to prevent that from happening”.
