ISIS WARNING: Terror group to use Trump retreat as ‘RECRUITING tool ‘around the world’

announced this week on Twitter the United States will start to withdraw all troops from Syrian within 60 to 100 days. US allies have warned the American president he risks helping Islamic State () terror cells in the region regain support and increase their numbers after an international coalition wiped out the group from 98 percent of the area they controlled. US Independent Senator Angus King told Mr Trump his decision “handed a victory” to ISIS and will become a “recruiting tool” for the terrorist organisation. 

Speaking to CNN, Senator King said: “This could be really, really bad. It also hands a victory to ISIS.

“This is a recruiting tool – ‘we defeated America, we sent them home.’ They’re going to be recruiting around the world based on this.

“Iran likes the decision, Russia likes the decision. Our allies don’t like the decision. Israel doesn’t like the decision. It’s stunning, it’s just hard to believe that a decision of this consequence could be made without any serious consultation or discussion.”

US soldiers were first deployed to in 2014 as part of a coalition with the United Kingdom, France, Jordan and Bahrain to lead the fight against the threat of ISIS. President Trump justified his decision claiming ISIS has been “completely defeated.” 

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A US official said Washington aimed to withdraw troops within 60 to 100 days and said the US State Department was evacuating all its personnel in Syria within 24 hours.

Mr Trump on Friday also ordered 7,000 US troops deployed to Afghanistan to return home within weeks. The United States currently has 14,000 troops in the country fighting a resurgent Taliban and the local ISIS franchise.

Mr King also voiced concerns about the impact a US withdrawal would have on its allies, who have repeatedly come under military threat from – and who President Recep Erdogan plans to “neutralise” due to a decade-long conflict between Turkey and several Kurdish insurgent groups.

The US Senator continued: “The worst thing about this is we’re basically abandoning the Kurds.

“The Kurds have been fighting for us, they’ve been working with us, they’ve been our key allies against ISIS in northern Iraq and Syria. We’re just walking away and leaving them to the tender mercy of the Turks.”

The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said the battle against ISIS had reached a decisive phase that requires more support, not a surprise US withdrawal.

Supported by roughly 2,000 US troops, the SDF are in the final stages of a campaign to recapture areas seized by ISIS militants.

They warned Mr Trump’s decision would leave Syrians stuck between “the claws of hostile parties” fighting for territory in the seven-year-old war.

Stunned Western allies including and Britain described the US President’s victory claims as premature.

British junior defence minister Tobias Ellwood said on Wednesday he strongly disagreed with Trump and tweeted: “(Islamic State) has morphed into other forms of extremism and the threat is very much alive.”

In France, officials said it intends to keep French troops in northern Syria for now because Islamic State militants have not been wiped out and pose a threat to French interests.