U.S. Forces to Complete Withdrawal from Syria within a Month, Report Says

AFP

Men watch as a U.S. military vehicle moves in a convoy along a highway outside Qamishli in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province on 23 February 2026.

U.S. forces that led the Global Coalition against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria started leaving a major base in the northeast on Monday and should complete their withdrawal from the country within a month, according to an AFP report.

The move comes after Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), long backed by Washington in the fight against the IS group, reached agreement with the Damascus government to integrate into the state. 

American forces have already withdrawn from two other bases in the past two weeks, Al-Tanf in the southeast and Shaddadi in the northeast. 

"Within a month, they will have withdrawn from Syria and there will no longer be any military presence in the bases," the AFP cited a Syrian government official, with a Kurdish source confirming the timeline. 

Dozens of trucks, some carrying armoured vehicles, departed the base at Qasrak in Hasakah province on Monday morning, witnesses said. Reuters footage later showed the trucks moving along a highway on the outskirts of the city of Qamishli.

A full withdrawal from Qasrak would still leave the U.S.-led coalition with a base in Rmelan, also known as Kharab al-Jir, near the Iraqi border.

Qasrak has been a main hub for the U.S.-led global coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria, where U.S. troops deployed over a decade ago, partnering with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the jihadist group.

The United States has about 1,000 troops still deployed in Syria. It began withdrawing on Monday from the Qasrak base in the northeast, which is still under the control of Kurdish forces, a Kurdish official who requested anonymity told AFP. 



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