US Delegation to Visit Syria for Establishment of New Military Base

Reports indicate that a United States delegation is set to visit Syria in the coming days to engage in discussions with officials from the ruling Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration. The visit may also include negotiations for a potential agreement to construct a permanent military base in the region.

Local sources indicate that a military installation is set to be established in the strategically vital al-Tanf region, located near the borders with Iraq and Jordan.

Sources indicated that the visit marks the inaugural establishment of a base on Syrian territory after the fall of Bashar al-Assad in December.

Sources indicate that the United States delegation is expected to advocate for the establishment of a naval base on the western coast of Syria. Furthermore, the group aims to secure the endorsement of the HTS-led administration to facilitate this endeavor.

Sources have indicated that the military bases will maintain the ongoing presence of US forces on Syrian soil, while reducing the troop numbers from 2,000 to 500.

In a statement issued on April 18, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell announced that the United States military plans to decrease its troop presence in Syria to fewer than 1,000 personnel in the forthcoming months.

He announced that a calculated and conditions-driven approach would reduce the U.S. military presence in Syria to fewer than one thousand troops in the forthcoming months.

The United States military maintains approximately 2,000 troops stationed in Syria, dispersed across multiple bases, largely concentrated in the country’s northeastern region.

The Pentagon’s announcement did not detail the number of troops set for withdrawal, but according to a report by The New York Times, the figure stands at 600.

The statement did not specify a particular timeline for the withdrawal process.

Since 2014, US military forces and assets have been stationed in northeastern Syria without authorization from the Syrian government. The Pentagon asserts that this deployment is intended to prevent regional oilfields from being seized by remnants of Daesh.

Damascus has asserted that the deployment is intended to exploit the nation’s natural resources.

In recent years, various footage has surfaced showing that US occupation forces have utilized tankers to transport Syrian crude oil from the country’s northern provinces to their bases in northern Iraq. This activity is part of what is described as Washington’s systematic exploitation of Syria’s essential resources.

Trump has acknowledged multiple times that American forces were present in the Arab nation to secure its oil resources.

Several reports have emerged over the past years indicating Washington’s direct or indirect support for the Daesh terrorist organization through its regional allies.