Syria has taken control of the last American base on its soil, declaring an end to the US mission against ISIS in the country.
The Syrian military moved into the Qasrak base in north-eastern Syria, one of several abandoned by American troops in recent months.
President Ahmad Al Shara's government has made assurances that it can keep ISIS at bay, despite his own background as an Islamist insurgent. On Thursday, Syria's Interior Ministry announced the arrest of two members of an alleged ISIS cell near Aleppo.
The Syrian Foreign Ministry said the US had decided to “complete its military mission" in the country. “The Syrian state is today fully capable of leading counterterrorism efforts from within, in co-operation with the international community,” it said.
The US Central Command confirmed it had completed the process of "turning over all of our major bases in Syria". It said US forces "continue to support partner-led counter-terrorism efforts".
The US withdrew from its Al Tanf and Shaddadi bases in February. The departure from Qasrak began the same month. After the US and Israel began attacks on Iran, reports said Qasrak was attacked by drones, with the handover to Syria apparently delayed.
The Trump administration has also backed Mr Al Shara's push to establish Syrian state control in the north-east – where a rival militia, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) took substantial territory during the 2011 to 2024 civil war. The SDF had US backing at the time as an anti-ISIS force on the ground.
After clashes in January between the Syrian government and the SDF almost spilt into full-scale war, a “comprehensive agreement” was reached for the Kurdish-led authorities to integrate into the Syrian state.
Mr Al Shara met SDF chief Mazloum Abdi on Thursday to discuss “completing integration into state institutions”, Syrian state media said. The US envoy Tom Barrack previously said that the SDF's “original purpose” as an anti-ISIS force had “largely expired”.
A rebel offensive led by Mr Al Shara swept into Damascus in December 2024, removing the regime of Bashar Al Assad from power. Mr Al Shara's first year in power was beset by outbreaks of violence involving the Kurdish, Druze and Alawite minorities.
A spate of ISIS attacks has also raised doubts about Syria's reliability as an American partner. The extremist group declared war on Mr Al Shara's government in February, saying it was illegitimate because of its links with Turkey and the US.
In the latest raid on Thursday, Syrian authorities said two ISIS suspects, Mahmoud Al Abdullah and Juma Al Ahmad, were arrested and their “weapons, ammunition and combat equipment” seized. They said the suspects had been involved in previous attacks. American forces also relocated thousands of ISIS prisoners from Syria to Iraq during the unrest in January.
