US Military Footprint In Syria Will Shrink, DOD Announces

There will be a troop drawdown in Syria in the wake of the degradation of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced Friday.

The military drawdown would see U.S. troop numbers in Syria drop to fewer than 1,000 in the coming months, Chief Pentagon Spokesman Sean Parnell said. The planned reduction follows a directive by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to “consolidat[e]…the U.S. forces in Syria under the Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve to select locations in Syria” in line with President Donald Trump’s peace-through-strength agenda, said Parnell.

“This consolidation reflects the significant steps we have made toward degrading ISIS’ appeal and operational capability regionally and globally,” Parnell said.

The Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (D-ISIS) “has made major gains, including those that led to the territorial defeat of ISIS in 2019. Additionally, U.S. Central Command [CENTCOM] has launched dozens of airstrikes over the last year to further degrade ISIS capabilities and deny them the ability to regain strength,” Parnell added. (RELATED: ‘We Will Find You, And We Will Kill You’: Unclassified Video Shows Trump-Ordered Strike On Terror Group’s Senior ‘Attack Planner’)

CENTCOM stood ready to strike remnants of the terrorist group, and the DOD would continue working with D-ISIS partners to pressure ISIS and confront any other terrorist threat, Parnell said.

Trump’s first administration orchestrated the attack on ISIS founder and leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in northern Syria that led to the latter’s death in October 2019.

“Capturing or killing Baghdadi has been the top national security priority of my administration,” Trump said at the time.

ISIS, although affected by its leader’s death that followed the loss of its so-called caliphate, spread to other countries. It remained a “real” and “continuing” threat, D-ISIS Deputy Special Envoy Ian McCary said Mar. 21, 2024 — two days before the fifth anniversary of the fall of the ISIS caliphate on March 23, 2019.

The lingering threat necessitated the creation and work of the 89-member D-ISIS, whose newest member — according to the Coalition — is Uzbekistan.

“The threat of terrorism is not confined to the Middle East, and we will be vigilant across every continent to ensure that ISIS has nowhere to hide,” Parnell said.

A CENTCOM precision airstrike killed the global ISIS second-in-command Abu Khadijah in Iraq on March 13.

To further degrade ISIS, the population of ISIS-linked people held in camps and detention facilities in northeast Syria also would need to be reduced, according to the DOD.

“[W]e call on the international community to repatriate their nationals,” Parnell said.

The DOD would remain active in the region, adjusting its strength based on the dynamic security situation there and providing updates when available, Parnell added.