American forces commenced their withdrawal from the largest base in northeast Syria on Monday, relocating personnel and equipment to the Iraqi Kurdish region as part of a multi-week, broader pullout.
Convoys carrying armored vehicles, heavy equipment, and personnel departed the Qasrak base in Hasakah province throughout Monday, heading toward the Al-Walid border crossing into Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Iraqi and Syrian security officials.
Associated Press journalists on the ground observed dozens of trucks with military helicopters circling overhead near the city of Qamishli.
A convoy carrying U.S. Army vehicles drives away from the International Coalition’s Qasrak Base, its largest base in northeastern Syria, heading toward Iraqi territory on the outskirts of Qamishli, eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.
(AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad) pic.twitter.com/B8aFnTWXLG
— Baderkhan Ahmad (@baderkhanahmad) February 23, 2026
A Syrian security official told Associated Press that roughly 200 soldiers remained at the base as of Monday, with work underway to dismantle sensitive infrastructure including military jamming systems and air defense equipment.
Qasrak has served as the primary hub for the U.S.-led global coalition fighting ISIS in Syria, where American troops first deployed over a decade ago. A full withdrawal from the base would leave coalition forces with only one remaining installation in Syria, a facility at Rmelan near the Iraqi border.
The Qasrak pullout marks the third U.S. base evacuated this month.
Forces withdrew from the al-Tanf garrison near the Iraqi and Jordanian borders on February 11, and from the al-Shaddadi base in southern Hasakah on February 15. The Syrian Arab Army assumed control of both installations in coordination with U.S. forces.
“Within a month, they will have withdrawn from Syria, and there will no longer be any military presence in the bases,” a Syrian government official told AFP.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 12, 2026
The withdrawal follows Syrian government forces seizing control of large portions of the northeast from the Syrian Democratic Forces last month. The SDF, Washington’s primary partner in the fight against ISIS for nearly a decade, reached an integration agreement with Damascus on January 18, ceding control of Raqqa, Deir Az Zor, and Hasakah provinces.
U.S. Central Command subsequently transferred more than 5,700 ISIS detainees from SDF-run prisons to Iraqi custody.
The pullout coincides with escalating ISIS activity in the region. Syrian security forces repelled two attacks on a checkpoint in Raqqa within 48 hours over the weekend, with The National reporting four internal security personnel killed and two wounded on Monday. ISIS claimed responsibility for a “new phase of operations” against President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government.
Syria joined the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition in November 2025 following President al-Sharaa’s White House meeting with President Trump.
