In a milestone, the US pulls out of a strategic Syria base and hands it over to Damascus

By Phil Stewart, Idris Ali and Tala Ramadan

WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) – The U.S. military completed its withdrawal from a strategic base in Syria on Thursday and handed it over to the Syrian army, the latest sign of strengthening U.S.-Syrian ties that could enable a larger U.S. withdrawal.

Al-Tanf Garrison is located at the trilateral junction of Syria, Jordan and Iraq.

Founded in 2014 during Syria’s civil war, the United States initially relied on it as a hub for operations by the U.S.-led coalition against Islamic State militants before they were defeated in Iraq and Syria in 2019.

But the base became a key location in the fight against Iranian influence due to its strategic position on the road connecting Damascus to Tehran. Although Washington has long seen Aadhaar as worthwhile, the Trump administration recalculated after the December 2024 ouster of longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, when relations fundamentally changed.

Syria joined the coalition fighting the remnants of the Islamic State last November when President Ahmed al-Shara, a former al Qaeda commander, visited the White House for talks with President Donald Trump.

David Edsnick of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think-tank in Washington questioned the ability of the Syrian army to pick up the slack after the US withdrawal.

“And the Syrian army includes thousands of former jihadists,” Edsnik said.

“Tanf’s mission also served as a deterrent to the activities of Iran and its proxies in sending arms across Syria to Hezbollah in Lebanon. That is its own goal.”

America vows to stop Islamic State resurgence

The Syrian Defense Ministry said on Thursday that government forces had taken control of al-Tanf after coordination between Syrian and US officials.

The US military’s Central Command confirmed the transfer of al-Tanf in a statement and noted that the Pentagon had announced plans to strengthen base positions in Syria last year.

“US forces are ready to respond to any ISIS threats that arise in the region while supporting partner-led efforts to prevent the resurgence of the terrorist network,” said Admiral Brad Cooper, who heads Central Command, which uses the Islamic State acronym.

Reuters, citing two sources, reported on Wednesday that US forces were moving into Jordan from Al-Tanf.

From al-Tanf, the United States follows a Washington-brokered deal to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces — an autonomous Kurdish-led group backed by the U.S. in the fight against IS for a decade — into central Syrian institutions.

Trump has long expressed his desire to withdraw US troops from Syria as early as 2019 during his first term. Before the withdrawal of US forces from al-Tanf, US officials estimated there were about 1,000 troops in Syria.

A person familiar with the matter said the withdrawal from Tanf could be a milestone towards a larger pullout. The U.S. is also scrapping one of its biggest commitments on the ground in Syria — helping to secure prisons holding Islamic State prisoners captured by U.S.-backed forces during the conflict.

About a dozen prisons were guarded by the SDF, but the U.S. military has been transferring high-level Islamic State prisoners from Syria to Iraq since last month as control of the facilities shifted to government forces.

Daniel Shapiro, a former senior Pentagon official for Middle East affairs, said that Trump’s goal was to end the US military role in Syria and that the withdrawal from al-Tanf was a bet on the Syrian government’s ability to resist ISIS.

“It’s probably the right gamble … (but) it’s still somewhat unknown if they actually live up to that responsibility,” Shapiro, now with the Atlantic Council, said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idris Ali and Tala Ramadan; Writing by Phil Stewart; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Nick Ziminski)