The U.S. plans to send troops to eastern Syria to keep oil fields out of ISIS's hands

The United States' often unclear decision-making in Syria continued this week when Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Friday that the U.S. will send combat troops and armored vehicles into eastern Syria, though the planned deployment will reportedly not affect the withdrawal of nearly all 1,000 U.S. troops from northeast Syria.

The decision was made to prevent oil fields in the region from potentially falling into the hands of the Islamic State, and it will take place in coordination with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who currently hold the oil fields. "If ISIS has access to the resources, and therefore means to procure arms or to buy fighters or whatever else they do, then it means it makes it more difficult to defeat ISIS," Esper said.

No details were provided on how many or what kind of forces will be deployed, though The Associated Press noted it could take several hundred soldiers to oversee the armored vehicles.

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President Trump, meanwhile, tweeted Friday that the oil is secure and U.S. forces were coming home from Syria, but Esper's announcement contradicts that and Trump himself has emphasized the need to protect the oil fields in recent days. Read more at The Associated Press and Al Jazeera.