US troops to remain at Iraq air base
A "small force" of US troops will remain at Iraq's Ain al-Asad air base in order to fight ISIS, the Baghdad government announced Oct. 20. The decision reverses plans for a full withdrawal of US forces from the base. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said that a force of up to 350 Pentagon advisors and support personnel would stay at the base in western Iraq, as well as al-Harir base in Iraqi Kurdistan. Other bases are seeing are seeing "gradual reductions" in US troops, according to the Associated Press.
"These personnel will assist in surveillance and coordination with US forces at the al-Tanf base in Syria to ensure that IS does not exploit the security vacuum," al-Sudani said, according to Kurdistan24. Al-Tanf, in southeastern Syria, is the main US outpost in that country.
The announcement that US troops will remain at Ain al-Asad represents a reversal of plans for a full withdrawal initially slated to be completed by last month. US Central Command only acknowledged that the withdrawal was underway in late September, pointing to a change in plans.
The decision to allow the US troops to stay was made in response to "developments in Syria," al-Sudani said. This presumably refers to the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, after the draw-down agreement between the US and Iraq was reached. The initial plan, reached last fall, would have brought the number of US troops inside Iraq from 2,500 to fewer than 2,000, with most based in the Kurdistan region. (Task & Purpose)
First US fatalities in Syria since fall of Assad
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that "two US service members and one U.S. civilian were killed, and three service members were injured, as a result of an ambush by a lone ISIS [Islamic State] gunman in Syria" on Dec. 13 in the area of Palmyra in Syria’s Homs governorate. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that the attacker was a member of the Syrian security forces. A Syrian official confirmed this status and stated that the attacker had been "under investigation" for "extremist ideas" while denying that he held a leadership position in the security forces.
It is the first attack on US personnel in Syria that resulted in casualties since the fall of the Bashar al Assad regime in December 2024, and the first deadly attack since 2019. President Donald Trump mourned the fallen soldiers and said there will be a "very serious retaliation." (LWJ)
US launches air-strikes against Islamic State in Syria
On Dec.19, US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that "US forces have commenced a large-scale strike against ISIS infrastructure and weapons sites in Syria." Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said the operation, dubbed "Hawkeye Strike," was "not the beginning of a war—it is a declaration of vengeance," launched in response to the Dec. 13 attack near Palmyra that killed two members of the Iowa National Guard and a civilian interpreter. (LWJ)