US-Led Coalition Withdraws from Strategic Syria Base After Decade-Long Presence
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said allied forces withdrew from the Tanf base, handing it to Syria’s Defense Ministry after ten years, as Syrian divisions deployed and security measures were imposed.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - At the crossroads of three borders and a decade of war logistics, the gates of Tanf have quietly changed hands, marking a decisive shift at one of Syria’s most strategic military sites.
On Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights announced that, according to several sources, all forces of the international coalition against ISIS have withdrawn from the Tanf base in Syria toward Jordan and handed the facility over to the Syrian Ministry of Defense.
The observatory said that the Fifty-Fourth Division of the Syrian Ministry of Defense has been deployed at the Tanf base and its surroundings, with strict security measures imposed. It added that, as of now, the reasons behind the coalition’s withdrawal from Tanf have not been disclosed.
Tanf is located at the border triangle of Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. Coalition forces had been stationed at the base during the war against ISIS, establishing a fifty-five-kilometer perimeter around it. The site was described as a strategic point for monitoring military movements and protecting supply lines into the depth of the Syrian desert.
The report also stated that the coalition has carried out changes at several border bases in Hasakah province, particularly in Rumeilan and Shaddadi. These areas had served as major logistics centers and hubs for coalition warplanes and drones.
According to the observatory, the withdrawal from Tanf comes after ten years of coalition presence, from 2016 to 2026. The base, known as the “key” to controlling the borders of Syria, Iraq, and Jordan, was vacated following a strategic agreement between Baghdad and Washington to end the mission of the international coalition.
The withdrawal also coincides with the end of the long-standing restricted zone within the fifty-five-kilometer radius around the base, which for years had been off-limits to Syrian government forces and militias. The area has now been formally handed over to the Fifty-Third Division of the Syrian army.
With the coalition’s departure and new deployments in place, Tanf has entered a new phase after a decade at the center of regional military coordination.