The United States has begun withdrawing its forces from Syria, according to reports.
All US State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours, an official told Reuters.
That comes after the White House said it had started withdrawing US forces from the country.
The official said US plans to pull military forces out of the country once the final stages of the last operation against so-called Islamic State (ISIS) were complete.
The time-frame for the troop pullout is expected to be between 60 and 100 days.
The decision came after a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Friday.
“Everything that has followed is implementing the agreement that was made in that call,” the official said.
“We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said in a statement.
The Pentagon said it had started the process of returning U.S. troops from Syria as the United States began to transition into the next phase of the campaign.
“The Coalition has liberated the ISIS-held territory, but the campaign against ISIS is not over,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement. “We have started the process of returning U.S. troops home from Syria as we transition to the next phase of the campaign,” she said.
US President Donald Trump said the US had defeated ISIS in Syria, adding that it was the only reason he had kept troops in the country.
We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 19, 2018
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