Aug 25, 2018

A senior US diplomat visited Kurdish-held territory in Syria on Saturday as the minority negotiates with Damascus over the future of its semi-autonomous region.

Ambassador William Roebuck was in the town of Shadidi in the northwestern province of Hasakeh after visiting the towns of Kobane and Minbej in recent days.

He is expected to continue to Deir Ezzor, an eastern province where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters, is fighting the Islamic State group in the jihadists' last redoubt.

"We are prepared to stay here, as the president (Donald Trump) has made clear, to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS," Roebuck said, using an alternative acronym for IS.

"We remain focused on ensuring the withdrawal of Iranian forces and their proxies as well."