By Staff, Agencies A high-ranking White House official confirmed that the US military forces will be staying in Syria after the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government, as part of what he claimed to be a “counter-terrorism” mission. “Those troops are there for a very specific and important reason, not as some sort of bargaining chip,” US Deputy National Security Adviser Jon Finer said in New York on Tuesday.

US troops “have been there now for the better part of a decade or more to fight Daesh [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist ISIS/ISIL group] … we are still committed to that mission,” he added.

In response to the question whether US troops will be staying in Syria, Finer said, “Yes.” The US military has for long stationed its forces and equipment in northeastern Syria, with the Pentagon claiming that the deployment is aimed at preventing the oilfields in the area from falling into the hands of Daesh terrorists