WASHINGTON - Claiming new progress against Islamic State extremists in Syria, President Donald Trump said Friday that some European nations are now willing to take responsibility for detained IS fighters who are from their countries.
"Anyway, big progress being made!!!!" he exclaimed on Twitter. A day earlier, he had proclaimed a U.S.-brokered cease-fire deal with Turkey marked "a great day for civilization," though the deal's effect was largely to mitigate a foreign policy crisis widely seen to be of his own making.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said U.S. troops are continuing their withdrawal from northern Syria. He also said no U.S. ground troops will participate in enforcing or monitoring the cease-fire Vice President Mike Pence announced Thursday in Ankara.
"The force protection of our service members remains our top priority and, as always, U.S. forces will defend themselves from any threat as we complete our withdrawal from the area," Esper told reporters.
In a series of tweets, Trump said he had spoken Friday to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan amid reports fighting actually had not ended.
"He told me there was minor sniper and mortar fire that was quickly eliminated," Trump tweeted, adding that there is "good will on both sides." He said, "The U.S. has secured the Oil & the ISIS Fighters are double secured by Kurds & Turkey."
Later, in comments to reporters, Trump again spoke of taking oil. "We've taken control of the oil in the Middle East," he said. White House officials had no immediate explanation for the comment, which seemed disconnected to any known developments in Syria or elsewhere in the Middle East.
President Donald Trump waves after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, early Friday, Oct. 18, 2019, in Washington. Trump is returning from a campaign rally in Texas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)Officials have said a number of ISIS fighters, likely just over 100, have escaped custody since Turkey launched its invasion last week.
Trump said nothing further about the European nations he contended had agreed to take some of the IS fighters.
After hours of negotiation in Ankara, the two nations Thursday agreed to a five-day cease-fire in the Turks' deadly attacks on Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, but some fighting continued early Friday in a northeast Syrian border town. The Kurds were U.S. allies in the fight against the Islamic State group but came under assault after Trump ordered U.S. troops to leave the area earlier this month.
The agreement requires the Kurds to vacate a swath of territory in Syria along the Turkish border in an arrangement that largely solidifies Turkey's position and aims in the weeklong conflict.
Pence, who reached the deal with Erdogan, hailed the agreement as the way to end the bloodshed caused by Turkey's invasion.