WASHINGTON — The United States has begun pulling troops from Syria and is preparing a conditions-based Syria withdrawal that would remove roughly 1,000 remaining U.S. service members, according to U.S. officials and news reports, Feb. 18, 2026.
A senior administration official described the Syria withdrawal as a “deliberate and conditions-based transition” and said U.S. forces “remain poised to respond to any ISIS threats” — a reference to the Islamic State group — as Washington shifts toward partner-led counterterrorism efforts. The official said a large-scale U.S. presence is no longer required because the Syrian government has signaled a willingness to take primary responsibility for combating the terrorist threat within its borders, as reported by Reuters.
What the Syria withdrawal could look like
U.S. officials told CBS News they expect the Syria withdrawal to unfold over roughly two months, closing out a U.S. military mission that has operated in Syria since 2015 as part of the coalition campaign against the Islamic State group. CBS reported U.S. forces have already departed the al-Tanf garrison in southern Syria and the al-Shaddadi base in the northeast earlier this year.
The U.S. exit comes as Syria’s post-Assad leadership consolidates control and seeks to fold the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, long backed by Washington, into state structures. Syria’s Defense Ministry said government forces have taken over the al-Tanf base following a coordinated U.S. departure, while U.S. Central Command said troops completed an “orderly departure” from the strategic outpost near the borders with Jordan and Iraq, according to The Associated Press. CENTCOM also said it has kept pressure on ISIS in recent months, citing more than 100 targets struck and more than 50 ISIS members killed or captured in the past two months.
Syria withdrawal and the ISIS detainee challenge
One of the central questions hanging over the Syria withdrawal is what happens to thousands of suspected ISIS fighters and their families who have been held in detention sites and displacement camps across the country. For years, the Syrian Democratic Forces helped guard prisons and camps holding ISIS detainees — a major piece of the anti-ISIS strategy that U.S. commanders repeatedly cited as a reason to stay.
In mid-February, U.S. Central Command said it completed a 23-day mission to move more than 5,700 adult male ISIS fighters from detention facilities in northeastern Syria to Iraqi custody, calling the transfer essential to preventing an ISIS resurgence. The transfer is detailed in a CENTCOM press release.
Even with detainee transfers underway, counterterrorism pressure remains a top concern for planners of the Syria withdrawal. In a January update on Operation Hawkeye Strike, CENTCOM said the campaign was launched in direct response to a Dec. 13, 2025, ISIS ambush in Palmyra that killed two American soldiers and a U.S. civilian interpreter, and said it would continue striking the group to prevent future attacks, according to a later CENTCOM statement.
Syria withdrawal in context: a decade of starts, stops and shifting troop levels
December 2018: President Donald Trump announced he was pulling all U.S. troops from Syria after declaring the Islamic State defeated, triggering bipartisan blowback and uncertainty about timelines, as described in an AP report from the time.
October 2019: After a partial pullback, Trump shifted the focus to protecting eastern Syria’s oil fields and denying them to ISIS, while keeping a smaller U.S. presence in-country, AP reported.
December 2024: The Pentagon disclosed it had about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria — more than double the publicly cited 900 — saying the additional forces were temporary and linked to the anti-ISIS mission, according to Reuters.
Supporters of the current Syria withdrawal argue the U.S. mission achieved its core objective of breaking the Islamic State group’s territorial “caliphate” and that a smaller, over-the-horizon posture can deter a comeback without keeping U.S. troops in the middle of Syria’s shifting politics. Critics counter that past drawdowns created openings for ISIS cells to regroup and left U.S. partners exposed.
For now, the administration is framing the Syria withdrawal as reversible if conditions deteriorate. The senior U.S. official cited by Reuters said U.S. forces remain ready to respond to ISIS threats even as the drawdown proceeds — language that suggests Washington intends to keep significant airpower and regional basing options available after the last troops depart.
