Syrian forces have taken control of the strategic al-Tanf military base near the borders with Iraq and Jordan, according to the Syrian defence ministry, following the withdrawal of a longstanding United States troop presence. The ministry said Syrian Arab Army units had secured the base and its surroundings through coordination between the Syrian and American sides, and had begun deploying along the nearby Syrian-Iraqi-Jordanian border, with border guards expected to be deployed in the coming days.
The al-Tanf base was established in 2014 during Syria’s civil war as a key hub for operations by the global coalition against ISIL (ISIS), which at the time controlled large parts of Syria and Iraq before being defeated in 2017. The US withdrawal comes months after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, formerly the leader of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and once designated by the US as a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” joined the anti-ISIL coalition in November, although the US military has not officially commented on the pullout. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly expressed interest in withdrawing US troops from Syria since his first term.
The withdrawal also follows a US-brokered agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a key US ally in the fight against ISIL, into Syrian government institutions, a deal Washington described as a major step toward national unity and reconciliation. As al-Sharaa’s government moved to expand its control last month, Syrian government forces captured large areas of previously Kurdish-held territory in northeastern Syria amid deadly clashes with the SDF, before a ceasefire was later reached between the two sides.
Members of HTS’s 111th Division at the Kweires Airbase, February 2025.
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