US leaves northern Syria, abandoning Kurdish allies

On Sunday evening the Trump administration released an unexpected statement saying it would pull all US troops put of North Syria and stop working with the local Kurdish forces, its allies of the past several years who are largely credited with defeating the Islamic state - or Isis - in the area. The decision opens the way for Turkey's president Recep Tayyip Erdogan to send in Turkish forces to secure the country's interests in the area. There have been numerous reactions so far to this. The United Nations said Monday it was "preparing for the worst" in the face of such an event. While, the US Senator Lindsey Graham, a top ally of Donald Trump, said he would be calling on Congress to reverse the president's decision and described the move as "a disaster in the making" that would be "a stain on America's honor for abandoning the Kurds." For more on this, listen to this report by correspondent Leila Molana Allen.

*Broadcast on Paris Live 15h CET, 7 October 2019*