The SDF’s top commander in Syria, General Mazloum Abdi, told CNN on Wednesday that the SDF has had to begin relocating ISIS detainees because the prisons have been threatened. The fighting has also forced the SDF to halt its anti-ISIS operations, Abdi told Sky News on Wednesday. “At the moment, joint operations against ISIS are halted, this is not a decision, but a military reality,” he said. ISIS is now stronger in the Syrian desert.”Abdi said that previously, ISIS was hiding, but their activities have now “increased” in areas under SDF control. Austin told reporters in Japan on Wednesday that the US will continue to work with the SDF going forward.

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