14/10/2020

U.S. Diplomat Untersehr: Our presence in northern Syria is to support the population and rebuild the region

DAYRO ZCURO, Syria — In a speech delivered at the launch of a project to rehabilitate the hospital in the town of Abu Hammam in the eastern countryside of Dayro Zcuro (Deir ez-Zor), U.S. diplomat Todd Untersehr noted that the U.S. government has prepared several reconstruction projects to be undertaken in Dayro Zcuro but noted that they will take time to complete.

Untersehr added that the U.S. stands resolutely behind the Democratic Autonomous Administration (DAA) of North and East Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the Civil Council of Dayro Zcuro, and the tribal leaders in the region.

He concluded by stating that the presence of U.S. forces in North and East Syria is to help the population, rebuild the region, and find a political solution to the country’s ongoing crisis.

On Monday, a delegation from the International Coalition attended the laying of the foundation for a hospital in the town of Hajin in the Dayro Zcuro countryside.

Since the disastrous withdraw of U.S. troops in October 2019 that precipitated a Turkish-led invasion of the border regions of North and East Syria, the U.S. has sought to reverse the setbacks it experienced and reestablish its position in the region.

Although still the most important partner for the SDF in its battle against the Islamic State, as well as a bulwark against the Syrian regime, trust in the U.S. as a guarantor against Turkish aggression has dramatically dropped among the population of North and East Syria. An estimated 300,000 Syriac–Assyrian, Arab, Kurd, Yezidi, and Armenian civilians were displaced as a result.