On the frontline as US troops leave northern Syria – podcast

Martin Chulov, who covers the Middle East for the Guardian, has spent the past week on the frontline of north-east Syria. He describes the fallout from Trump’s shock decision to withdraw US troops. And: Amelia Gentleman on the EU citizens struggling for the right to remain in the UK

In late 2014, the Kurds were struggling to fend off an Islamic State siege of Kobani. But with US support, including arms and airstrikes, the Kurds managed to beat back Isis and went on to win a string of victories against the radical militant group.

Last week, President Donald Trump ordered a withdrawal of American forces from northern Syria, a decision that has effectively ceded control of the area to the Syrian government and Russia. Martin Chulov, who covers the Middle East for the Guardian, has just returned from the frontline in north-east Syria. He tells Rachel Humphreys that although the handover on show was that between the Kurds and the regime of Bashar al-Assad, the real power shift was between Washington and Moscow, whose reach and influence across the Middle East has now been cemented.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/35AF1uE