The United States is withdrawing all of its approximately 1,000 troops from Syria, ending a decade-long military operation in the country. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal, citing three unnamed American officials, according to UNN.
Details
According to the publication's sources, American troops have already completed their withdrawal from the Al-Tanf garrison, a strategic outpost on the borders of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq, and the Al-Shaddadi base in northeastern Syria earlier this month. Troops will be withdrawn from the remaining American bases over the next two months.
The troop withdrawal is not related to the current deployment of US naval and air forces in the Middle East for potential strikes on Iran in case of a failure of negotiations on that country's nuclear program.
Reference
This is not the first time Trump has withdrawn US troops from Syria. In 2018, during his first presidential term, he abruptly ordered the withdrawal of all approximately 2,000 US troops from the country after declaring military victory over ISIS, stating that Turkey - a staunch opponent of the Kurds in Syria - could "fill the American vacuum."
Trump's decision met with strong opposition from the administration and prompted then-Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis to resign.
Ultimately, Trump left a few hundred troops in the country to protect oil fields in the hope of seizing Syrian oil for the US. But Jim Jeffrey, Trump's then-envoy for Syria, later stated that administration members "always play games to avoid explaining to our leadership how many troops we have there."
Recall
The US Central Command reported a series of 10 airstrikes on over 30 ISIS targets in Syria from February 3 to 12, 2026. Operation "Hawkeye Strike" eliminated or captured over 50 militants, destroying over a hundred infrastructure facilities.