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The Syrian government has taken control of the strategic al-Tanf base at the junction of the Iraqi and Jordanian borders following the withdrawal of U.S. forces after nearly a decade, Syrian government sources said Wednesday.
The sources told Anadolu that the Syrian army assumed control of the base and deployed forces there.
U.S. troops reportedly withdrew to a facility known as Tower 22, located near the demilitarized zone on the Jordan-Syria border, about 22 kilometers (13 miles) from al-Tanf. While around 200 U.S. troops were previously reported to be stationed at al-Tanf, there is no confirmed information on the number of personnel currently deployed at Tower 22.
The United States had used the al-Tanf base, expanded in 2017 and 2018, along with surveillance balloons, to monitor the activities of Iran-backed groups and the Daesh terrorist organization across a vast area stretching from the Jordanian border to the Euphrates River.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces launched a new raid Wednesday in Syria’s southern Quneitra countryside, marking the latest violation of the country’s sovereignty.
According to state-run Al-Ekhbariya television, a force of about 60 soldiers supported by 15 military vehicles entered the village of Ufania in northern Quneitra, firing flares as they advanced.
The incursion followed a similar raid a day earlier, during which Israeli forces detained a young man while he was herding sheep in southern Quneitra.
Israeli forces have carried out near-daily incursions into Syrian territory in recent months, particularly in Quneitra, detaining civilians, setting up checkpoints, questioning residents and destroying farmland.
After the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in late 2024, Israel expanded its occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights by seizing the demilitarized buffer zone, a move that violated the 1974 disengagement agreement.
Syrians say the continued Israeli violations are undermining efforts to restore stability and hampering government attempts to attract investment to improve the country’s economic conditions.
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