ISIS Is Keeping US Troops in Syria - Here's What's Going On

U.S. troops will remain in the Syrian city of Raqqa despite the fall of ISIS.

After a seven-year civil war, the terrorist group is out of what used to be their capital, but the work is not done.

Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters this week that U.S. forces will remain there.

He said it is to prevent "ISIS 2.0."

U.S. troops and civilian aid workers are also there to help local officials restore basic services such as food, water, and electricity.

Meanwhile, Iraqi forces backed by U.S.-led coalition reclaimed the last town in Iraq which was held by the Islamic State group.

Iraqi military units and local tribal forces pushed into the city of Rawah driving out the jihadists. 

U.S.-led coalition forces supported the operations to retake Rawah and the border town of Qaim with intelligence, airstrikes, and advisers, coalition spokesman Ryan Dillon said.

The Islamic State group took control in areas of Iraq's north and west in the summer of 2014, capturing the second-largest city of Mosul and advancing to the edges of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. 

Later that year, the United States began a campaign of airstrikes against the jihadists that fueled Iraqi territorial gains, allowing the military to retake Mosul in July this year.

Now, all that remains of the IS-held Iraq are patches of rural territory located in the western desert along the border of Syria.