ByGOLDIE KATZ

The United States is considering a complete withdrawal of its military troops from Syria, US officials told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, a move that would end US military involvement in Syria, which began with a 2014 intervention in the Syrian civil war ordered by former US president Barack Obama.

Around 1,000 US troops are stationed in Syria, WSJ reported, and are mainly co-stationed with Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) troops.

The US-SDF partnership originally began with US efforts to combat the Islamic State in Syria before Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s overthrow of the Assad regime and assumption of power in late 2024.

The report of the potential withdrawal comes as near-constant clashes between the Syrian government forces and the SDF damage efforts to integrate the two forces.

The clashes and US military proximity are further complicated by US President Donald Trump’s positive relationship with al-Sharaa, who has led moves aimed at integrating the SDF and Kurdish Syrians into greater Syrian society.

Members of the Syrian government security forces stand guard as a group of detainees gather at al-Hol camp after the government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026.
Members of the Syrian government security forces stand guard as a group of detainees gather at al-Hol camp after the government took control of it following the withdrawal of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Hasaka, Syria, January 21, 2026. (credit: REUTERS/KHALIL ASHAWI)

Viability of the US’s mission in Syria

Earlier in the week, Syrian government forces seized control of SDF-run prisons holding thousands of Islamic State terrorists, leading to the US initiating operations to move the prisoners out of Syria to Iraq. 

According to three US officials who spoke to WSJ, the Syrian army’s seizure of the prisons and other previously SDF-controlled swathes of territory has led to the US questioning “the viability of the American military’s mission in Syria.”

Charles Lister, director of the Syria program at the Middle East Institute, told WSJ that “the main thing that has been holding the US force presence in Syria over the last year is the detention facilities and the camps,” adding that “we should be asking ourselves the question of the sustainability of the US troop presence in Syria.”

Lister cautioned, however, that the Islamic State is still a prominent threat in Syria, with over 300 Islamic State terror attacks having occurred over the past year.

Additionally complicating the viability of US military presence in Syria is the potential for attacks against US troops. 

In December, two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter were killed after attackers, alleged to have Islamic State ties, launched an ambush on a convoy of US and Syrian troops in Palmyra.

Seth J. Frantzman, James Genn, and Reuters contributed to this report.