The Syrian Ministry of Defense, in coordination with the United States, announced the takeover of the al-Shadadi military base in the Hasakah countryside in northeastern Syria.
Today (Sunday), the Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing the Defense Ministry’s Media and Communications Directorate, that “Syrian forces, in coordination with the American side, have taken control of the al-Shadadi military base in Hasakah countryside.”
The move followed a Washington-brokered agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into Syria’s state institutions and after the US withdrew from the al-Tanf military base in the country’s south.
Last week, the United States began evacuating al-Shadadi base in the south of al-Hasakah province, in parallel with the process of evacuating about 7,000 ISIS prisoners to Iraq from the Kurdish autonomous government prisons that controlled the province, following a security agreement between Washington and Baghdad.
Last Thursday, the Syrian Ministry of Defense indicated that it had taken over the “Al-Tanf” military base and had begun the deployment of Syrian military forces to secure the base and its surroundings.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that it has completed the orderly withdrawal of troops from Syria’s Al-Tanf base within the framework of a studied conditional transition led by Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve.
U.S. Central Command Commander Brad Cooper said the U.S. military remains ready to respond to any threat posed by ISIS in the region, adding that maintaining pressure on ISIS is essential to strengthening regional security.
Last summer, the United States evacuated both of Syria’s two largest bases, the al-Omar oil field east of Deir Ezzor province and the Koniko gas plant to the north.
