The Syrian Ministry of Defense announced that the Syrian army had taken control of the strategic base in coordination with the United States.
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Published February 12, 2026
Syria’s Ministry of Defense announced that the Syrian military has taken control of the strategic al-Tanf military base near the Iraq-Jordan border, as US troops who had been stationed at the base for years withdraw.
The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that “through coordination between the Syrian and American sides,” Syrian Arab Army forces took control of al-Tanf and secured the base and its surrounding area.
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The ministry said army troops had begun deploying nearby “along the Syria-Iraq-Jordan border” and border guards were expected to be deployed within the next few days.
The base was established as a key base for operations by the Global Coalition Against ISIL (ISIS) during the Syrian civil war in 2014, when ISIS controlled large swathes of Syria and Iraq until ISIS was defeated in 2017.
The U.S. withdrawal from the base comes months after Syrian President Ahmed al-Shalah, a former leader of the militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, which the United States once deemed a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist,” joined the anti-ISIL coalition in November.
Although the U.S. military has not publicly commented on the withdrawal, President Trump has expressed interest in withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria since his first term.
Syrian government expands control
The withdrawal also follows a U.S.-brokered agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, a key U.S. partner in the fight against ISIL, into Syrian government institutions, an agreement the U.S. hails as a major step toward national unity and reconciliation in Syria.
Last month, Syrian government forces captured large swaths of formerly Kurdish-held territory in northeastern Syria amid deadly clashes with the SDF as the al-Shalah regime pushes to expand its control over the country.
A ceasefire was then established between the two sides.
As the Syrian army advances, U.S. forces are transferring thousands of ISIL prisoners from prisons formerly run by the SDF in northeastern Syria as the facilities are transferred to Syrian government control.
us drawdown
The size of the U.S. deployment in Syria has fluctuated over the years, and many operations are classified, so exact numbers are often unclear, but a July 2025 Pentagon announcement said there were approximately 1,500 U.S. troops in Syria.
The current deployment size is 900, according to the Associated Press.
Earlier this month, Al Jazeera’s local correspondent reported that U.S. military personnel appeared to be reducing their presence from watchtowers surrounding military facilities in Al Shadadi district, northeastern Hasakah province.
Soldiers were seen lowering a U.S. flag from one of the towers, but the equipment used to control aircraft takeoff and landing on the base’s runways was no longer visible.
The United States carried out a series of “major” attacks against ISIL in Syria in January, following an ambush in December that killed two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter in the city of Palmyra.
