US President Donald Trump has demanded that Europe take in hundreds of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) fighters captured in Syria, threatening that the United States would otherwise be forced to release them.

According to him the US does not want to watch as these ISIS fighters permeate Europe, which is where they are expected to go.

President Trump caused widespread concern among US allies in December when he suddenly announced that the US would withdraw its troops from Syria and that Islamic State had already been defeated.

Critics warned that the armed group remained a threat and that a pullout could lead to resurgence, with US allies in the region not equipped to handle the threat alone.