Syria’s foreign ministry on Sunday condemned a surprise visit by the United States’ top military officer to an army base in the Kurdish-held northeast, dubbing it “illegal”, state media said.
In his snap visit Saturday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley met US troops stationed in areas of war-torn Syria under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
About 900 US troops are deployed in several bases and posts across northeastern Syria as part of the fight against Islamic State group remnants.
Official news agency SANA quoted a foreign ministry official as saying “Syria strongly condemns the illegal visit of the American chairman of the chiefs of staff to an illegal American military base in northeast Syria.”
Milley’s visit was “a flagrant violation of the sovereignty and integrity” of Syrian territory, the official added according to SANA, calling on “the US administration to immediately cease its systematic and continued violation of international law and support for separatist armed groups”.
President Bashar al-Assad’s government views the deployment of US forces in SDF-held territory as “occupation” and accuses US-aligned Kurdish forces of “separatist tendencies”.
Kurdish officials deny any separatist aspirations and say they seek to preserve their self-rule, which Damascus does not recognise.
Milley’s spokesman, Dave Butler, told AFP the US general “visited northeast Syria Saturday… to meet with commanders and troops”.
It was Milley’s first trip to Syria since assuming the chairmanship in 2019. He visited the country before as an army chief, the spokesman said.