US forces complete withdrawal from strategic al-Tanf Garrison in Syria

The U.S. subject has completed its withdrawal of American forces from al-Tanf Garrison successful Syria, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Thursday.

The departure, finalized Feb. 11, was carried retired arsenic portion of a broader displacement successful U.S. posture successful the portion nether Operation Inherent Resolve, the conjugation ngo launched successful 2014 to combat ISIS.

American troops person maintained a constricted beingness successful the state to enactment spouse forces and forestall the violent radical from resurging aft it was territorially defeated successful 2019.

Syria’s Defense Ministry said authorities forces took power of the al-Tanf basal pursuing the U.S. withdrawal and person begun deploying on the country’s borders with Iraq and Jordan, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the country’s state-run quality outlet.

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U.S. subject vehicles escort rider buses transporting Islamic State detainees from northeastern Syria into Iraq, Feb. 8, 2026. (Str/Xinhua via Getty Images)

The ministry said the handover was coordinated with U.S. officials and that Syrian Arab Army units moved successful to unafraid the basal and surrounding areas successful the tri-border godforsaken region.

The improvement follows a Pentagon determination successful April 2025 to standard backmost and consolidate U.S. forces successful Syria. 

Caroline Rose, manager of the Crime-Conflict Nexus and Military Withdrawals portfolios astatine the New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital that al-Tanf was 1 of the astir strategically important U.S. garrisons successful Syria, if not the broader Middle East, arsenic it offered access, insight, and quality postulation on Syria's borders with Jordan and Iraq.

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A outer representation shows the al-Tanf Base successful Syria, July 20, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC/Reuters)

"This was not lone pivotal during the U.S.-led Coalition to decision the Islamic State, wherever determination was a menace of cross-border offensives and violence, but besides proved cardinal to U.S. deterrence efforts against Iran-backed militia networks that operated successful Iraq and Syria," she said. "The U.S. pullout from Al-Tanf is simply a awesome that Washington is present comfy with wherever the counter-ISIS combat is and the decision of Iran-aligned proxy networks successful the region, on with Syrian information integration efforts with the [Syrian Democratic Forces]."

Rose added that the departure could beryllium viewed arsenic a setback for Jordan, which has agelong depended connected the U.S. presumption astatine al-Tanf to deter adversarial actors successful the region.

Despite the withdrawal, U.S. forces stay prepared to antagonistic ISIS threats, CENTCOM said, noting that successful the past 2 months, American forces person struck much than 100 targets successful the portion and captured oregon killed much than 4 twelve ISIS fighters.

Soldiers from the US-led conjugation locomotion with members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during a associated patrol successful the countryside of Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Feb. 8, 2024. (Orhan Qereman/Reuters)

The alteration successful posture comes conscionable weeks aft U.S. forces transferred 150 ISIS fighters from a detention installation successful Hasakah, Syria, to a unafraid determination successful Iraq. 

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Officials indicated successful precocious January that thousands much detainees could besides beryllium moved arsenic portion of the broader effort to support semipermanent information successful the region.

A presumption of al-Hol camp, wherever families linked to the Islamic State radical are being held, successful Hasakah province, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2026. (Izz Aldien Alqasem/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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Syria became the 90th subordinate of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, a U.S.-led confederation formed to coordinate planetary efforts against the extremist group, successful November.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and peculiar envoy for Syria, said Damascus — nether interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa — is prepared to presume information responsibilities, including power of ISIS detention facilities and camps, pursuing the 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad.