The Syrian army has taken over the al-Shaddadi military base in the northeast of the country, following the withdrawal of United States troops. This move is part of a ceasefire arrangement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Syria’s Ministry of Defence announced on Sunday that the takeover was made possible through coordination with the American side. The US had been operating in al-Shaddadi since 2016, after Kurdish-led forces seized it from ISIL (ISIS).
The Syrian army also took control of the US base of al-Tanf, near the border with Iraq and Jordan, on Thursday. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that the implementation of the ceasefire agreement was “headed in a positive direction”.
“There’s been some days that have been very concerning, but we like the trajectory,” he said. “We have to keep it on that trajectory. We’ve got good agreements in place. The key now is implementation, and we’ll be very involved in that regard.”
Regional Context
Reporting from Aleppo, Al Jazeera correspondent Heidi Pett said residents near al-Shaddadi reported hearing “explosions and seeing fires at the base as Americans destroy remaining material because they’ve been preparing to leave there for a number of weeks”.
The US has been reducing its military footprint in Syria for months, going from 1,500 personnel in July to about 900 currently. US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced it had conducted 10 air strikes on 30 targets during the February 3-12 period, and killed or captured more than 50 people in two months.
CENTCOM’s commander Admiral Brad Cooper said in a statement that US forces would “remain poised to respond to any [ISIS] threats that arise”.
Source: Al Jazeera
