Syria’s army assumes control of a second US base, Al-Shadadi, following the recent handover of Al-Tanf, amid shifting US alliances in the region.

DAMASCUS: Syria’s defence ministry announced its forces have taken control of the Al-Shadadi military base in the northeast from US forces.

This follows a similar handover of the Al-Tanf base near Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq, which the US confirmed it vacated last Thursday.

“The forces of the Syrian Arab Army have taken over the Al-Shadadi military base in the Hasakeh countryside following coordination with the American side,” a ministry statement said.

US forces had been stationed at the base as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group.

The town of Al-Shadadi also housed a prison where Kurdish forces detained IS members before government forces advanced into the area last month.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces were a major US partner in the territorial defeat of IS in 2019.

Following the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, the United States has drawn closer to the new government in Damascus.

The US recently declared that the need for its alliance with the Kurds had largely passed.

Despite IS’s territorial defeat, the group remains active in the region.

The US Central Command said its forces struck more than 30 IS targets in Syria between February 3 and 12.

A CENTCOM statement said the air strikes hit IS “infrastructure and weapons storage targets”.

 The Sun Malaysia