US to withdraw troops from Syria as tensions mount with Iran

DAMASCUS — The United States is preparing to pull back its remaining troops from Syria over the next few months, news reports said citing US officials.The decision came as US President Donald Trump ramps up military presence in the Middle East while tensions mount with Iran.American troops have been in Syria since 2015, as part of an anti-terrorism campaign to counter the influence of the Islamic State group (IS).A US official said the Syrian government had agreed to take the lead combatting terrorism within its borders and US military presence “at scale” was no longer required, according to the BBC.The official noted that the decision to remove the roughly 1,000 remaining troops from Syria is part of a conditions-based transition, and that the US remains ready to respond to any threats in the region.The news comes amid an increased presence of US troops in the region, specifically near Iran.The aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is already positioned near Iran while the US has reportedly sent the USS Gerald R Ford, the world’s largest warship, to the Middle East, expected to arrive in the region within the next three weeks.Senior national security officials told CBS News that Trump said the US military would be ready for potential strikes on Iran as soon as Saturday, though Trump has not yet made a final decision.In Syria, US troops had already departed two bases earlier this year, the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria and the al-Shaddadi base in the north-east.Last week, the US military confirmed it was withdrawing from the al-Tanf base, located near borders with Iraq and Jordan.The base served as a ‌key hub for operations for the global coalition against IS, which at the time controlled large areas of Syria and Iraq until sustaining critical losses in 2017.The movements follow the collapse of the Assad government in 2024, and a weakened Islamic State amid considerable security improvement in Syria.Since then, the Trump administration has sought to strengthen its diplomatic ties with Damascus and increase its partnership with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.Sharaa visited Trump in the White House in November, the first such visit from a Syrian leader in the country’s history.His government has at times clashed with local military groups, but struck a deal in January that would integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces with Syria’s armed forces.Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Syrian counterpart, Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani, last week to discuss maintaining the ceasefire. Rubio also expressed concerns about the continued fight against terrorism.In December, a translator and two members of the Iowa National Guard were killed in an ambush attack by a lone IS gunman in Palmyra, Syria, the Pentagon said.The Trump administration retaliated with a series of raids against IS, called Operation Hawkeye Strike. — Agencies