Joseph Votel

U.S. Marine Corps Gen. Kenneth McKenzie has taken over the leadership of Central Command (CENTCOM), replacing retiring Gen. Joseph Votel as America's top general in the Middle East.       

US forces deployed in Syria will remain in the country after ISIS defeat to ensure the terror group does not reemerge and proceed with a political resolution of the conflict, Central Command (CENTCOM) commander Gen. Joseph Votel said in a congressional testimony on Tuesday.

The US doesn't intend to withdraw its troops from Syria's Manbij despite Turkey's warnings, US Central Command chief General Joseph Votel said Monday.

Earlier this month, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that Ankara couldn't limit its precautionary measures against the YPG to Syria's Afrin district and might move to Manbij, also in Aleppo province.

U.S. troops will not withdraw from Manbij, a strategically important city in northern Syria, Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of the United States Central Command, told CNN International on Jan. 28. 

Iran's defense minister, Hossein Dehqan, has advised the US military to leave the Persian Gulf and stop causing trouble there, local media report. The Minister was firing back at a US general who accused Iran of being a destabilizing force in its own region.

The US military said on Wednesday that 284 members of the Iraqi security forces had been killed since the battle to retake western Mosul began, with more than 1,600 wounded.

The United States is taking steps to try to avoid a conflict between Turkey and U.S.-backed Kurdish forces, which Turkey views as terrorists, in Syria, the top U.S. commander overseeing American troops in the Middle East said on March 9, acknowledging the risk of a clash existed.

The top U.S. military commander for the Middle East made a secret trip to northern Syria on Feb. 24 to meet a U.S.-backed alliance fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), officials said.

General Joseph Votel, who heads U.S. Central Command (Centcom), met with leaders from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The Pentagon's top officer has said he is readying a "full range of options" for President Donald Trump on the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, adding that he would underline the importance of Turkey. 

The Iraqi government's effort to integrate a Shiite militia, the al-Hashd al-Shaabi, into the country's security forces is concerning as it might increase Iran's influence with Baghdad, a U.S. general said on Nov. 30.