The United States has closed two military bases in Syria and handed a third one over to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition, as part of a plan to reduce its military presence in the country: over the past few weeks, the US Central Command has withdrawn around 500 troops from the Arab republic, a Pentagon official told Al Arabiya, APA reports.
"An estimated 500 troops were withdrawn from Syria in recent weeks, and two US bases in the republic were shut down and a third one was handed over to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)," the Saudi TV channel quoted the US defense official as saying. He described the consolidation of US forces in Syria as safe and deliberate.
According to Al Arabiya, Mission Support Site Euphrates was handed over the Kurdish forces, while Mission Support Site Green Village was shut down, and a third base was also vacated.
In 2015-2018, the US established nine military bases and three advance outposts in Kurdish-controlled Syrian territory, deploying 2,200 troops there. In April, the Pentagon announced plans to bring down the US footprint in Syria to less than 1,000.
On March 10, the Syrian interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi signed an agreement, under which the Kurdish alliance was to be incorporated into the security forces subordinate to the new Syrian authorities. The sides agreed that all civilian and military facilities in northeastern Syria would be integrated into the public administration system headed by the new authorities in Damascus
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