Syrian Army Assumes Control of Final U.S. Military Base as American Forces Withdraw

The Syrian Army on Thursday assumed control of the last remaining United States military installation on Syrian territory, marking a historic conclusion to nearly a decade of American ground presence in the war-torn country. The handover came with formal assurances from Damascus that Syria’s new transitional government can independently manage threats from the Islamic State and other terrorist organizations operating within its borders.

The American military presence in Syria originated in 2015 when U.S. special operations forces were deployed to support local partners—primarily the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—in the campaign to dismantle the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate. At its height, ISIS controlled territory roughly the size of the United Kingdom across Iraq and Syria, imposing brutal rule over an estimated eight million people. The coalition campaign, known as Operation Inherent Resolve, culminated in the 2019 battle of Baghuz, which eliminated the group’s last territorial stronghold. Since then, a residual American force has remained to prevent an ISIS resurgence, guard detention facilities holding thousands of captured fighters, and counter Iranian-backed militia activity in the region.

The closure of this final base follows the dramatic political upheaval of late 2024, when a rapid offensive led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied factions toppled the decades-long rule of the Assad family in a matter of weeks. The new transitional authority in Damascus has sought international legitimacy by pledging inclusive governance, counterterrorism cooperation, and stability. The withdrawal of U.S. forces signals a significant diplomatic accommodation, though analysts have raised concerns about the operational capacity of the new Syrian military—itself largely reconstituted from former rebel factions—to contain an ISIS organization that the Pentagon has repeatedly warned is attempting to regenerate.

Observers will be closely monitoring several developments in the weeks ahead: whether detention facilities housing ISIS fighters and their families at al-Hol and Roj camps remain secure under new management, how the SDF integrates or negotiates with the central government in Damascus, and whether Turkey—which views the Kurdish forces as affiliated with the PKK insurgency—uses the American departure as an opportunity for further cross-border operations. The Pentagon has indicated that over-the-horizon strike capabilities and intelligence-sharing arrangements will remain available, though the operational effectiveness of such approaches without ground presence has been debated since similar arrangements followed the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.