Some US forces are still located in the SDF-controlled areas of northeastern Syria,

such as Hassakeh and Raqqa provinces.

Since 2016, the US has also controlled al-Tanf base, in a remote area of Syria,
near where the borders of Syria, Jordan and Iraq meet. The US presence in the base
was agreed upon with Russia, and is part of a 55km (34 miles) “deconfliction zone”,
which US and allied forces patrol. Russia has since called on the US to withdraw
from al-Tanf.
There are still approximately 900 US soldiers in Syria.

Speaking last year, Brett McGurk, the White House coordinator for the Middle East
and North Africa, said the US had four main objectives in Syria: to reduce
violence, maintain military pressure on ISIL, address Syria’s humanitarian crisis,
and to support Israel.
The US has conducted raids against senior ISIL and al-Qaeda leaders in Syria,
including ISIL’s Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. Civilians have also been killed in these
attacks, according to locals.
“The official goal of the Americans in Syria is defeating ISIS and ensuring that
ISIS does not return to the areas that have been liberated,” said Mzahem Alsaloum,
a Syrian analyst. “But the presence of the Americans is also important to cut
[Iranian] military and smuggling supply lines [from Iraq] … if the Iranians took
al-Tanf, there would be a direct link between Tehran, Baghdad and Damascus.”

Roughly 900 U.S. troops, including a number of Green Berets, will remain in Syria
to continue supporting and advising the Syrian Democratic Forces fighting the
Islamic State.
In this Nov. 11, 2019, photo, Bradley fighting vehicles are parked at a U.S.
military base at an undisclosed location in Northeastern Syria, Monday, Nov. 11,
2019.

The Biden administration is pulling all American troops out of Afghanistan and
formally transitioning to an advisory role in Iraq. But the U.S. military operation
in Syria has seen no changes — and officials expect hundreds of troops to remain in
the country for the foreseeable future.

Roughly 900 U.S. troops, including a number of Green Berets, will remain in Syria
to continue supporting and advising the Syrian Democratic Forces fighting the
Islamic State — the same role they have played since the American-led intervention
in 2014, according to a senior Biden administration official.

As President Joe Biden seeks to end America’s “forever wars” in Iraq and
Afghanistan, the Pentagon’s quiet operation in Syria has, for the most part, flown
under the radar. After seven years of conflict and two attempts by former President
Donald Trump to pull American troops out, defense and administration officials tell
POLITICO the administration now has no plans to make any changes to the U.S.
military operation in Syria.