US official says troop withdrawal from Syria has started

The US-led military coalition in Syria has begun the process of withdrawing troops from Syria, a US military official said Friday, declining to comment on specific timetables or movements.

Col. Sean Ryan, spokesman for the coalition fighting Daesh group, said the US started "the process of our deliberate withdrawal from Syria," ABC News reported.

"Out of concern for operational security, we will not discuss specific timelines, locations or troops movements," he said in a statement.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria through a network of activists on the ground, said the withdrawal began Thursday night.

It said a convoy of about 10 armored vehicles, in addition to some trucks, pulled out from Syria's northeastern town of Rmeilan into Iraq.

There are 2,000 American troops in Syria. Trump's abrupt decision in December to pull them, declaring in a tweet the defeat of Daesh, sent shock waves across the region and led to the resignation of US Defense Minister James Mattis and the top US envoy to the anti-Daesh coalition.