pullback

Even a modest hit from sanctions or pullback by foreign investors will only add to that downward spiral.

Missile strikes from warplanes and helicopter gunships and tank shelling made the pullback necessary, he says.

Commanders insist the move is a tactical pullback, but fighters are unnerved as the government intensifies its Aleppo offensive.

Others foresaw bloodshed between supporters of rival political parties, and cast a wary eye to a pullback of police.