US troops to withdraw from Syria 'over a period of time': Trump

US President Donald Trump said that the US troops would be withdrawing from Syria "over a period of time," dismissing the previously reported four-month exit plan. "Over a period of time. I never said I'm getting out tomorrow," Trump was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency on Wednesday. Trump dismissed a New York Times story reporting earlier that the U.S. military had been given about four months to retreat the 2,000 soldiers from the war-torn country.

The Trump administration announced on Dec. 19 that it had started returning U.S. troops home from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the Islamic State. U.S. media cited anonymous officials as saying that the United States was planning a "rapid" and "full" withdrawal of troops from Syria. Trump himself last week reversed the tone in a tweet, claiming that his country is "slowly" withdrawing troops from Syria. Currently, there are more than 2,000 US soldiers deployed in Syria.

(With inputs from agencies.)