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2w ago

U.S. Ends Syria Ground Presence as Qasrak Base Transfers to Damascus

The move shifts counter-ISIS duties to Damascus under a deal with Kurdish-led forces.

A U.S. military vehicle is transported on a truck as part of a convoy withdrawing from Qasrak base in northeastern Hasakah province toward the Jordanian border near Daraa, Syria, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A convoy carrying U.S. military vehicles and equipment drives along a road while withdrawing from Qasrak base in northeastern Hasakah province toward the Jordanian border near Daraa, Syria, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
A U.S. military vehicle is transported on a truck as part of a convoy withdrawing from Qasrak base in northeastern Hasakah province toward the Jordanian border near Daraa, Syria, Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
The Last Convoy Out: How Twelve Years of American Military Presence in Syria Quietly Unraveled

Overview

  • U.S. Central Command said Thursday that troops finished handing over all major bases after the last convoy left Qasrak in Hasakah.
  • The Syrian army took control of Qasrak under a handover built on a deal that folds parts of the Kurdish-led SDF into state forces.
  • Washington says it will keep supporting partner-led missions against Islamic State cells without keeping permanent outposts in Syria.
  • During the drawdown, the U.S. moved about 5,700 suspected ISIS members from SDF-run detention in northeast Syria to prisons in Iraq for trial.
  • Analysts warn the exit could ease ISIS rebuilding and give Turkey and Iran-linked groups more room to act in the northeast.