US completes withdrawal from al-Tanf base in Syria: CENTCOM

WASHINGTON

The US military has completed its withdrawal from the al-Tanf base in southern Syria after nearly a decade, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed on Thursday.

“U.S. forces remain poised to respond to any ISIS threats that arise in the region as we support partner-led efforts to prevent the terrorist network’s resurgence,” CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said in a statement.

“Maintaining pressure on ISIS is essential to protecting the U.S. homeland and strengthening regional security,” he added.

CENTCOM said the departure from al-Tanf Garrison was completed on Feb. 11 as part of a “deliberate and conditions-based transition” under Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR), established in 2014 to fight the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group.

The Syrian government has taken control of the strategic base at the junction of the Iraqi and Jordanian borders following the US withdrawal, Syrian government sources told Anadolu on Wednesday, saying Syrian Army units deployed there.

The US had used the al-Tanf base, which was expanded in 2017 and 2018, along with surveillance balloons deployed there to monitor the military activities of Iran-backed groups and the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist organization across a stretch of hundreds of kilometers between the Jordanian border and the Euphrates River.