The US will pull out around 600 troops from Syria, leaving fewer than 1,000 behind to continue working with Kurdish allies to fight the Islamic State group, a US official said Thursday. The official shared this information anonymously as the details haven’t been made public yet.

US troops have played a key role not only in fighting the Islamic State but also in protecting Kurdish forces from Turkey, which sees them as connected to terrorist groups. During his first term, President Donald Trump wanted to pull all US forces out of Syria. However, he faced strong opposition from the Pentagon, as it was believed that this would abandon important allies. This decision led to the resignation of former Defence Secretary Jim Mattis. The withdrawal of 600 troops will bring the number of forces back to the levels they had been at for years, after the US and its allies spent several years fighting to defeat ISIS. 

The US had kept around 900 troops in Syria to make sure ISIS militants didn’t regain control, and also to prevent Iranian-backed fighters from smuggling weapons through southern Syria. Following the October 7, 2023, attacks by Hamas in Israel, the number of US troops in the region was increased to over 2,000. This was in response to Iranian-backed militants targeting US troops and interests, as retaliation for Israel's airstrikes on Gaza. In January 2024, three U.S. soldiers in Jordan were killed by a drone launched by an Iranian-backed militia.

In December 2024, Syrian President Bashar Assad left the country. Since then, many Syrians who had been displaced by the ongoing war have returned home, but the situation in the country is still unstable. Israel has targeted Syrian weapons sites, and there are signs that the Islamic State group is trying to regain strength. Additionally, Iranian-backed militias in Syria continue to pose a threat to U.S. interests. The withdrawal of 600 U.S. troops was first reported by The New York Times.