US departs Syria after handover of its final remaining base

DAMASCUS – Syria said on Thursday the handover to the government of military sites previously used by US troops had been completed, which it said reflected the successful integration of the Kurdish-led SDF group into national structures.

The Syrian government and Kurdish forces declared in January a ceasefire deal that set out a phased integration into the state of Kurdish fighters that had long been allied to the United States. Washington had stationed troops in Syria for more than a decade helping to combat Islamic State.

US forces on Thursday completed their full withdrawal from the Qasrak base in northwestern Hasakah province, transferring control of the facility to the Syrian army's 60th Division.

Qasrak had been the largest and last remaining base hosting US forces in Syria. Its handover follows reports from March indicating that the evacuation process had begun, with Global Coalition equipment moved toward the Kurdistan Region of Iraq as part of an operation scheduled for completion by mid-April.

Earlier this year, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed an “organised withdrawal” from both Al-Tanf base in eastern Syria and Al-Shaddadi base in Hasakah province, part of a broader drawdown that also saw the departure of approximately 2,500 US troops previously stationed in the country.

Syria said on Thursday that it had taken control of a military base in Hasakeh province in the northeast after forces from the US-led international coalition against ISIS group withdrew.

Syrian army forces “took over the Qasrak air base ... after the withdrawal of international coalition forces,” said a defense ministry statement carried by state news agency SANA.

A defense ministry official said that Syrian forces had entered the base, which is now “empty of American forces after they fully withdrew.”

An correspondent near the northeastern city of Qamishli saw a convoy of US military vehicles heading towards the Iraqi border.

Qasrak was considered a key US base in northeast Syria and served in recent months as a logistics hub for convoys and military equipment heading towards Iraq.

In recent months, Syria’s government has expanded its control to parts of the country’s northeast that were previously controlled by US-allied Kurdish forces. The government has also formally joined the anti-ISIS coalition.

Last month, Syria said the army had taken over the Rmeilan base, also in Hasakeh province, after coalition forces withdrew.

In recent months, American forces have also withdrawn from the al-Tanf base in the southeast and Shadadi in the northeast.

Syria’s Kurds lost swathes of territory to government forces earlier this year following clashes between the sides, who then agreed a deal to gradually integrate Kurdish military and civilian institutions into the state.

In February, days before the Middle East war erupted, three sources said that US forces leading the anti-ISIS coalition would complete their withdrawal from Syria within a month.

The US intervened in Syria in 2014 to fight ISIS, which had taken over swathes of Syria and Iraq in a lightning offensive.

Washington had long backed Syrian Kurdish forces in the country’s northeast but this year said the purpose of that alliance was largely over.