DAMASCUS, Syria — Syria’s defense ministry said on Sunday it had taken over the Al-Shadadi base in the northeast from US forces, days after assuming control of a facility near the Jordan-Iraq borders.

“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 operating as part of the international coalition against the Islamic State group had been stationed at the base outside the town of the same name.

The town housed a prison where Kurdish forces detained members of the extremist jihadist organization, before government forces advanced into the area last month.

Sunday’s announcement follows US confirmation on Thursday that its forces had vacated Al-Tanf base near Syria’s borders with Jordan and Iraq.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) were a major partner of the US-led international coalition against ISIS, and were instrumental in the group’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.

But following the fall in December 2024 of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad, the United States has drawn closer to the new government in Damascus, recently declaring that the need for its alliance with the Kurds had largely passed.

Despite ISIS’s territorial defeat, the group remains active, however.

On Saturday, the US Central Command said its forces had struck more than 30 ISIS targets in Syria this month.

A CENTCOM statement said the air strikes between February 3 and 12 hit ISIS “infrastructure and weapons storage targets.

If so, we have a request. 

Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fact-based coverage of Israel and the Jewish world. 

We care about Israel - and we know you do too. So we have an ask for this new year of 2026: express your values by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work. 

We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.

You clearly find our careful reporting valuable, in a time when facts are often distorted and news coverage often lacks context.

Your support is essential to continue our work. We want to continue delivering the professional journalism you value, even as the demands on our newsroom have grown dramatically since October 7.

So today, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6 a month you'll become our partners while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.

Thank you,David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel

1 Doctors Without Borders suspends activities at Gaza hospital due to presence of gunmen

2 PM and Trump reportedly agree to ‘full force’ economic pressure campaign against Iran

3 250,000 rally in Munich against Iran’s regime as Pahlavi urges ‘global day of action’

4 Reporter's notebookMeet the settlers of Instagram, the photogenic West Bank women documenting pastoral life

5 IDF strikes gunmen who approached troops in north Gaza after emerging from tunnel

6 Exiled son of Iran’s last shah calls on Trump to help ‘bury’ the Islamic Republic

7 Israel makes history but no major wins in first week at 2026 Winter Olympics

8 Anti-Hamas militia says it is destroying terror group’s tunnels in Gaza

coalition against Islamic State

© The Times of Israel