US military completes withdrawal from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria

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

The departure, finalized Feb. 11, was carried out as part of a broader shift in U.S. posture in the region under Operation Inherent Resolve, the coalition mission launched in 2014 to combat ISIS.

American troops have maintained a limited presence in the country to support partner forces and prevent the terrorist group from resurging after it was territorially defeated in 2019.

Syria’s Defense Ministry said government forces took control of the al-Tanf base following the U.S. withdrawal and have begun deploying along the country’s borders with Iraq and Jordan, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency, the country’s state-run news outlet.

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The ministry said the handover was coordinated with U.S. officials and that Syrian Arab Army units moved in to secure the base and surrounding areas in the tri-border desert region.

The development follows a Pentagon decision in April 2025 to scale back and consolidate U.S. forces in Syria. 

Caroline Rose, director of the Crime-Conflict Nexus and Military Withdrawals portfolios at the New Lines Institute, told Fox News Digital that al-Tanf was one of the most strategically important U.S. garrisons in Syria, if not the broader Middle East, as it offered access, insight and intelligence collection along Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq.

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“This was not only pivotal during the U.S.-led Coalition to defeat the Islamic State, where there was a threat of cross-border offensives and violence, but also proved key to U.S. deterrence efforts against Iran-backed militia networks that operated in Iraq and Syria,” she said. “The U.S. pullout from Al-Tanf is a signal that Washington is now comfortable with where the counter-ISIS fight is and the defeat of Iran-aligned proxy networks in the region, along with Syrian security integration efforts with the [Syrian Democratic Forces].”

Rose added that the departure could be viewed as a setback for Jordan, which has long depended on the U.S. position at al-Tanf to deter adversarial actors in the region.

Despite the withdrawal, U.S. forces remain prepared to counter ISIS threats, CENTCOM said, noting that in the past two months, American forces have struck more than 100 targets in the region and captured or killed more than four dozen ISIS fighters.

The change in posture comes just weeks after U.S. forces transferred 150 ISIS fighters from a detention facility in Hasakah, Syria, to a secure location in Iraq. 

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Officials indicated in late January that thousands more detainees could also be moved as part of the broader effort to maintain long-term security in the region.

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Syria became the 90th member of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, a U.S.-led alliance formed to coordinate international efforts against the extremist group, in November.

Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, said Damascus — under interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa — is prepared to assume security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps, following the 2024 ouster of Bashar al-Assad.