The Syrian government announced today that it has taken control of all military bases that until recently hosted U.S. forces that have been fighting the jihadist Islamic State group for years.
In a statement, Syria’s foreign ministry “welcomes the complete handover” of the bases to Syrian authorities, which was done “in coordination” between Damascus and Washington.
On Thursday, Syria took control of the Qasraq air base in Hasakah province, the Kurdish stronghold in the northeast of the country, after the US-led international anti-jihadist coalition forces withdrew from there.
A defence ministry official told Agence France-Presse that Syrian forces entered the base, which was now empty. An AFP correspondent near the town of Qamishli saw a convoy of US military vehicles heading for the border with Iraq.
Kasraq, considered a base of strategic importance, had in recent months served as a custodial centre for convoys carrying troops and materiel out of Syria. The American withdrawal from Kasraq had begun in late February.
Damascus’s Islamist government, backed by Washington, joined the coalition against Islamic State last year and extended its control across Syrian territory after seizing large swathes of land previously controlled by the Kurds.
The US kept about 1,000 troops at Syrian bases located in zones outside former President Bashar al-Assad’s control. They were used mainly to launch air strikes on IS jihadists. Islamic State was defeated in 2019 and its “caliphate” was dismantled, but there are still some “dormant” cells in the desert.
