The Syrian army has now taken full control of most military sites in the country where the U.S. military was once deployed, according to reports. This handover occurred in cooperation with American authorities, who have been present since 2014 to fight the Islamic State group, sources indicate. The U.S. withdrawal came as a result of the successful implementation of a deal between Syria's central government in Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and of success in fighting the remnants of the Islamic State group, according to officials. U.S. forces have completed turning over all of their major bases in Syria, as part of a deliberate and conditions-based transition, the military stated. Convoys of trucks could be seen leaving the base Thursday, hauling military vehicles and equipment, eyewitnesses reported.
This transition is part of a broader drawdown, with the main mission of the U.S. troops in Syria being to prevent a resurgence of IS, officials say. The U.S. military will continue to support partner-led counterterrorism efforts, which are essential to ensuring the enduring defeat of ISIS and strengthening regional security, according to statements.
U.S. forces began withdrawing from Qasrak in late February, in what appeared to be part of a larger drawdown of U.S. forces in Syria, reports indicate. Earlier that month, the U.S. military's Central Command and Syria's defense ministry announced that U.S. troops had left the al-Tanf base in eastern Syria near the border with Jordan. The departure of U.S. forces from the bases came after the U.S. military completed the transfer of some 5,700 accused Islamic State militants from detention centers in northeast Syria to prisons in Iraq, where they will be put on trial, officials stated.
The extremist group lost control of the last territory it held in Syria in 2019 but its sleeper cells have continued to stage periodic attacks in Syria, Iraq and abroad, according to security assessments.