World ‘surprised’ by how quickly Assad’s Syria collapsed, says Austin

LONDON — US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Monday that the international community was “surprised that opposition forces have moved so quickly” in Syria as President Bashar al-Assad’s government collapsed in the face of a surprise rebel offensive.

“Everyone expected to see much stronger resistance from Assad’s forces,” Austin said while in Japan, on what is expected to be his final trip to the Indo-Pacific region in as Secretary of Defense.

The speed of developments, he added, “has been surprising, I think, to almost everyone in the international community.”

The fall of Damascus to rebel forces on Sunday marked “a historic moment of opportunity for the long-suffering Syrian people to build a better future for their country,” President Joe Biden said in a message to X, adding : “It is also a time of risk and uncertainty.

American forces are already working to quell any trace of a resurgence of ISIS in central and eastern Syria, where hundreds of American troops have been active for several years alongside Kurdish forces to defeat the remnants of the jihadist group.

US forces launched 75 strikes against IS targets in central Syria on Sunday to “disrupt, degrade and defeat” the group, the head of US Central Command said in a statement.

Austin said the strikes were aimed at “keeping pressure on ISIS.”

“As this unfolds, it is possible that elements in the region, such as ISIS, will attempt to take advantage of this opportunity and regain their capabilities,” he explained.

“We have been tracking ISIS as part of our Defeat ISIS campaign for some time, as you know, and we have seen cells trying to reinforce and develop additional capabilities in the Vidalia Desert and these “The strikes were focused on these cells,” Austin said.

U.S. forces are “still evaluating the results, but I think we’re going to find that we’ve been pretty successful,” Austin said.