The US will withdraw about 600 troops from Syria, leaving fewer than 1,000 to work with Kurdish allies to counter the Islamic State jihadist group, a US official said Thursday.
The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet announced publicly.
The US troops have been critical not only in the operations against the Islamic State but as a buffer for the Kurdish forces against Turkey, which considers them to be aligned with terror groups.
US President Donald Trump tried to withdraw all forces from Syria during his first term, but he met opposition from the Pentagon because it was seen as abandoning allies and led to the resignation of former defense Secretary Jim Mattis.
The departure of the 600 troops will return force levels to where they had been for years, after the US and its allies waged a multiyear campaign to defeat IS. The US had maintained about 900 troops in Syria to ensure that the IS militants did not regain a foothold, but also as a hedge to prevent Iranian-backed militants from trafficking weapons across southern Syria.
The number of US troops was raised to more than 2,000 after the October 7, 2023, terror atrocities by Hamas in southern Israel, as Iranian-backed militants targeted US troops and interests in the region in response to Israel’s subsequent offensive in Gaza.
Three US troops in Jordan were killed by a drone fired by an Iranian-backed militia in January 2024.
This combination of photos provided by Shawn Sanders, left, and the US Army, center and right, show from left to right, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, Staff Sgt. William Jerome Rivers and Sgt. Breonna Alexsondria Moffett. The three US Army Reserve soldiers from Georgia, all of whom received posthumous promotions in rank, were killed by a drone strike on January 28, 2024, on their base in Jordan near the Syrian border. (Shawn Sanders and US Army via AP, File)
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 the Islamic State group is trying to reconstitute itself, and Iranian-backed militias in Syria remain a threat to US interests.
The withdrawal of the 600 troops was first reported by The New York Times.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Ynet news site reported that Pentagon officials informed their counterparts in the Israeli security establishment of the planned troop reduction in Syria, adding that it is expected to begin within two months.
A senior Israeli official told the news site that Jerusalem was working to convince Washington to limit the withdrawal, fearing that the move will increase Turkey’s “appetite” to control Syria — something that Israel opposes.
When Trump announced a full withdrawal of US troops from Syria during his first term, Israel also opposed he move, expressing concern that an American withdrawal would create a power vacuum in the region, allowing Iran to expand its military entrenchment near the Israeli border.
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