Establishment In May 2015,
Islamic State (IS, also known as ISIS) militants captured the border checkpoint at Al-Tanf, thus obtaining control over the full length of the
Iraq–Syria border. The U.S.-backed
New Syrian Army rebel faction recaptured the Al-Tanf post on the Syrian side of the border in early March 2016, and the
Al-Waleed border crossing on the Iraqi side of the border was recaptured by Iraqi pro-government tribal militias backed by
U.S.-led forces in early August. In August 2016, the
BBC published photographs taken in June that year which it said showed
United Kingdom Special Forces soldiers apparently guarding the perimeter of the Al-Tanf base. In March 2017, the
Revolutionary Commando Army (RCA), successor of the New Syrian Army, re-opened the border crossing, resuming cross-border civilian traffic. A group referred to as the Army of Iraqi Tribes was said to control the Iraqi side of the crossing. In April–May 2017, it was reported that U.S.
5th Special Forces Group were training Syrian rebels at Al-Tanf. On 17 June 2017, the
Iraqi Armed Forces announced that the Iraqi Army and Sunni tribal fighters, supported by U.S.-led Coalition aircraft, had dislodged IS from the Iraqi side of Al-Waleed border crossing. conducting a
medevac exercise during a patrol within the Deconfliction Zone on 27 May 2020 By late 2017, Arab media began calling the "
deconfliction area" around the Tanf base "the 55 km area", as it was composed of a half-circle area with a radius of 55 km (35 miles) with the base at its center. By 2019, the
Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) anti-IS coalition referred to the area simply as the
Deconfliction Zone (
DCZ) with the
Al-Tanf Garrison (
ATG) at the center. In August 2018, U.S. State Department representative
William V. Roebuck traveled to Syria. "We are prepared to stay here, as the president
Donald Trump has made clear," he said after meeting with Kurdish rebel officials. By 2018, the Al-Tanf area hosted five
Free Syrian Army factions including the
Lions of the East Army, the
Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo, the
Army of Free Tribes, the Revolutionary Commando Army (also known as Maghawir al-Thawra), and Al-Qaryatayn Martyrs Brigade. The U.S. referred to them as part of the "
Vetted Syrian Opposition". According to the U.S., these fighters were permitted only to launch offensives against IS and not against
Bashar al-Assad's
Syrian Arab Armed Forces, though clashes with pro-Syrian government elements have occurred. attached to
SP-MAGTF-CR-CC during Operation Apex Teufelhunden, a
live fire exercise near Al-Tanf, on 7 September 2018 In a February 2018 letter, the U.S. military justified its occupation by citing the doctrine of collective
self-defense as necessary to defend Iraq, the U.S. itself, and other states from IS and other active terrorist groups. In October 2018, General
Joseph Votel, commander of
United States Central Command (CENTCOM), stated that U.S. forces in Al-Tanf did not "have a counter Iranian mission here. We have a
defeat ISIS mission," but nevertheless acknowledged that American presence in the area had "an indirect effect on some malign activities that Iran and their various proxies and surrogates would like to pursue down here." On 7 September 2018, the CENTCOM announced a CJTF-OIR live fire exercise around the Al-Tanf garrison, named Operation Apex Teufelhunden. The announcement described it as a "defeat-ISIS exercise". After the
announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, U.S. National Security Advisor
John R. Bolton said in early 2019 that U.S. operations in the Al-Tanf area would continue as a part of the U.S. effort to counter "
Iranian influence" in Syria. On 28 January 2019, Jordanian Foreign Minister
Ayman Safadi ruled out the prospect of Jordanian forces seizing control of Al-Tanf after American ground troops leave Syria, saying, "Al-Tanf is on the other side of the Jordanian border. As I said, Jordan will not cross its border. We will take every measure we have to protect our security...but arrangements on the other side of the border after withdrawal will have to be agreed by all parties, and they have to ensure the safety and security in the area." The Trump administration announced on 22 February 2019 that around 400 U.S. troops would remain in Syria post-withdrawal, with about half garrisoned in areas under the control of the
Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria with another half stationed at the Al-Tanf garrison. The 200 at Al-Tanf were to remain indefinitely. On 4 June 2019, representatives of more than 30 countries participated in a meeting with the command of CJTF-OIR in Kuwait where the issue of stepping up efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq and Syria was discussed. Amid a period of heightened regional tensions with Iran, the Pentagon announced on 18 June that another 1,000 troops will be deployed to the Middle East, presumably including the Al-Tanf base. In October 2019, in the context of the pullout of American troops from northern Syria,
The New York Times reported that the Pentagon was planning to "leave 150 Special Operations forces at a base called al-Tanf". In November 2019, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that U.S. troops were in Syria "only for oil". On 23 October 2019, the RCA reportedly seized $3.5 million worth of
Captagon pills heading to the
Rukban refugee camp in a major bust on weapons and drug smuggling of IS underground networks. On 16 April 2020, a number of Syrian rebels at Al-Tanf base defected to the Syrian government in a convoy. (MaT/RCA) on a joint patrol near Al-Tanf, 29 April 2020 In May 2020, the U.S. military published images of special operations forces personnel at Al-Tanf training with an advanced Israeli-made Smart Shooter SMASH 2000 "
smart" optical sighting system attached to their
M4A1 rifles. It was unclear if special operations units in the region had actually adopted the computerized optic or if the training was part of field trials or another type of demonstration. In 2021, it was reported that Al-Tanf hosted around 350 foreign military personnel and civilians, including some members of British and French forces. In August 2022, it was reported that there are approximately 900 U.S. troops in Syria, with most of them split between the Al-Tanf base and Syria's eastern oil fields. In December 2024, the Syrian Free Army launched the
Palmyra offensive (2024) from Al-Tanf on
Palmyra, with logistical support from U.S. forces. Within two days, the SFA quickly captured Palmyra and then proceeded to enter the Syrian capital city Damascus from the east during the ensuing
fall of the Assad regime.
Attacks on the base On 8 April 2017, Islamic State launched a complex and coordinated attack against a
United States Special Operations Forces outpost at Al-Tanf. IS started the attack by striking the base with a suicide car bomb and then assaulting with around 20-30 suicide commandos. The attack was repelled first by gunfire from the allied rebels and U.S. special forces, followed by airstrikes from the CJTF-OIR coalition which killed most of the IS force and destroyed their vehicles. Three Syrian rebels were also reported dead. On 18 May 2017, U.S. fighter jets struck a column of pro-Assad militia forces advancing towards the base, reportedly destroying two
T-62 tanks. Shortly thereafter, Syrian government forces were reported to continue their
Syrian Desert campaign (May–July 2017), using advanced Russian-made weapons and were supported by Russian helicopters, according to a report acknowledged on 26 May by the Russian Defence Ministry's
Zvezda media outlet. At the end of December 2017, the Chief of the Russian General Staff
Valery Gerasimov said that the U.S. garrison at Al-Tanf was fully isolated by Syrian government forces following the desert offensive in the area. Around 16 February 2020, an Iranian-backed "rogue" proxy group reportedly breached the deconfliction zone at Al-Tanf, and were then repelled by the RCA. On 20 October 2021, the base was attacked by drones in the
2021 Al-Tanf drone attack, causing no injuries. On 14 December 2021, a
Royal Air Force Typhoon FGR4 shot down a small hostile drone with an
ASRAAM near the base. In June 2022, Russia carried out airstrikes at the Al-Tanf military base, after first notifying the United States of their intentions, allowing local forces to relocate before the strike. U.S. officials said that Russia claimed the RCA had carried out a roadside bomb attack on Russian forces, though the officials stated they did not believe this and accused Russia of just looking for a reason to carry out airstrikes in the location. The United States reported a drone attack in the vicinity of the Al-Tanf base on the night of 15 August 2022. Shortly thereafter, the
Syrian Foreign Ministry released a statement demanding that "the American side must immediately and unconditionally withdraw its military forces that are present on the territory of Syria illegally." On 24 August 2022, U.S. President
Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against claimed
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets after a number of rockets struck near the U.S. military base at Al-Tanf on 15 August and an airstrike by the Russian military in an area held by the Syrian opposition. The U.S. strikes targeted eleven bunkers in
Deir ez-Zor used to store weapons, according to the CENTCOM. A spokesperson for the
Iranian foreign ministry denied that Iran had any link to targets hit and condemned the strike as "a violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity". Another drone attack on Al-Tanf in mid-October 2023 left 15 U.S. soldiers with
traumatic brain injury and two other soldiers with minor injuries. All injured U.S. personnel had returned to duty by 12 November. On 28 January 2024, the
Tower 22 drone attack carried out at Tower 22, a military outpost near Al-Tanf on the Jordanian side of the border, resulted in three U.S. soldiers killed and more than 30 injured. The
Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an Iran-backed militia, claimed responsibility for the attack.
Post-Assad era On 29 October 2025, the Syrian troops stationed at Al-Tanf base were transferred from the
70th Division under the
Ministry of Defense to the
Ministry of Interior and assigned to the
Desert Security Forces under
Ahmad al-Tamer. The unit will presumably continue to operate in the
Syrian Desert, which is a hotspot for ISIS activity. On 11 February 2026, "American forces withdrew entirely from Al-Tanf base today," a Syrian military source told
Agence France-Presse. Another Syrian military source said U.S. forces had been removing equipment from the base for the past 15 days and would "continue to coordinate with [personnel in Al-Tanf] from Jordan." The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the Al-Tanf base was handed over to the
54th Division under the Ministry of Defense, marking a complete withdrawal of the international coalition from the base towards Jordan. U.S.
CENTCOM and the
Government of Syria confirmed the U.S. withdawal from Al-Tanf on 12 February. ==Criticism==