Army Staff Sgt. Joel De La Cruz briefs other soldiers prior to training Syrian Free Army troops at a combat outpost in Syria on Feb. 7, 2025. (Fred Brown/U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — U.S. troops in Syria will begin to consolidate their operations in the country, shutting down some bases in the coming months and leaving less than 1,000 service members there, the Pentagon announced Friday.
“This consolidation reflects the significant steps we have made toward degrading [the Islamic State’s] appeal and operational capability regionally and globally,” Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement.
The military is shuttering three of its eight small operating bases in Syria’s northeast region, The New York Times reported. The bases are Mission Support Site Green Village, M.S.S. Euphrates and a third much smaller facility.
About 600 troops will be pulled out from Syria, according to an Associated Press report that cited an unnamed U.S. official.
The removal of troops will return U.S. forces in Syria to a level that they had been for years, after a multiyear campaign to defeat ISIS. The U.S. had maintained about 900 troops in the country to ensure ISIS militants did not regain a foothold, but also to prevent Iranian-backed militants from trafficking weapons across southern Syria.
The number of U.S. troops there was increased to more than 2,000 after the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas militants in Israel as Iranian-backed fighters targeted America forces and interests in the region in response to Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Three U.S. soldiers in Jordan were killed by a drone fired by an Iranian-backed militia in January 2024.
In December 2024, Syrian President Bashar Assad fled the country. In the months since, Syrians displaced by more than a decade of war have returned home, but the country remains unstable. Israel has targeted Syrian weapons installations, and there are some indications that ISIS is trying to reconstitute itself, and Iranian-backed militias in Syria remain a threat to U.S. interests.
“As this consolidation takes place, consistent with President [Donald] Trump’s commitment to peace through strength, U.S. Central Command will remain poised to continue strikes against the remnants of ISIS in Syria,” Parnell said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
