Syria says it has taken over al-Tanf base vacated by US troops

Feb 12 (Reuters) – Syria’s Defence Ministry said on Thursday that Syrian army units had taken control of the al-Tanf military base vacated by U.S. troops, following coordination between Syrian and U.S. authorities.

Reuters, quoting two sources briefed on the matter, reported on Wednesday that U.S. forces had evacuated the al-Tanf base in far northeastern Syria and were heading to Jordan.

The al-Tanf complex is strategically located at the tri-border confluence of Syria, Jordan and Iraq. It was established during Syria’s civil war in 2014 as a key hub for operations by the global coalition against Islamic State militants.

Syria joined the coalition last November when President Ahmed al-Sharaa visited the White House for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump. Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander, had led Islamist rebels who overthrew longtime Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The U.S. pullout from al-Tanf follows a Washington-brokered deal to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces – a Kurdish-led group backed by the U.S. for a decade in the fight against IS – into central Syrian institutions.

The United States hailed the January 30 agreement as a milestone towards unity and reconciliation in Syria after the war that fractured the country into rebel fiefdoms.

Trump has expressed a desire to withdraw U.S. troops from Syria since his first term in 2019. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the Trump administration was planning a “complete withdrawal” from Syria, citing three U.S. officials.

The United States had about 1,500 troops in Syria, according to a Pentagon announcement in July 2025.

(Reporting by Tala Ramadan; writing by Feras Dalatey; editing by Mark Heinrich)