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WASHINGTON, Dec. 19-- The Trump administration announced on Wednesday that it has started returning U.S. troops home from Syria after claiming a victory in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) without revealing any detailed timetable. "We have started returning United States troops home as we transition to the next phase of this campaign," said White House Spokesperson Sarah Sanders in a statement, claiming that America has "defeated the territorial caliphate." Pentagon later echoed the White House claim, saying that the U.S. military has already begun the process of bringing the U.S. forces back while emphasizing the continuity of the campaign. "The Coalition has liberated ISIS (the IS)-held territory, but the campaign against ISIS is not over," the Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a tweet. All U.S. State Department personnel are being evacuated from Syria within 24 hours, reported Reuters after the White House announcement, citing an anonymous administration official. The official also revealed that the time-frame for the troops withdrawal from the war-torn Arab country is expected to be between 60 and 100 days, according to the report. However, a senior Trump administration official, during a background briefing held on Wednesday afternoon, did not directly answer reporters' questions on how the administration intends to withdraw the troops or whether there will a deadline for that. | 
