page_title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)
section_title: Official statements on the base
hierarchical_section_title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base) / Official statements on the base
caption_attribution_description: English: Green Berets and their partner force, the Maghaweir al-Thowra (MaT), during a joint patrol mission near At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, April 29, 2020. Coalition forces train and advise the MaT in southern Syria in pursuit of the enduring defeat of Daesh and to set conditions for regional stability. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. William Howard)
context_page_description: Al-Tanf, also known as "At Tanf", is a United States military base in Syria's Homs Governorate located 24 km west of the al-Tanf border crossing in the Syrian Desert. The surrounding deconfliction zone is located along the Iraq and Jordan–Syria border. The base is located along a critical road known as the M2 Baghdad–Damascus Highway.
  A significant United States Armed Forces presence at the outpost began in early 2016 during the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War in order to train anti-Islamic State fighters of the New Syrian Army rebel group, which was dissolved and reemerged as the Revolutionary Commando Army in December 2016. As of 2020, the al-Tanf base continues to serve as the headquarters for the Revolutionary Commando Army and a garrisoned contingent of at least 200 U.S. soldiers operating on behalf of the CJTF-OIR Coalition.
context_section_description: The U.S. refers to the Revolutionary Commando Army as part of the "Vetted Syrian Opposition". According to the U.S., these fighters are permitted only to launch offensives against ISIL and not against the Syrian Armed Forces, though clashes with pro-Syrian government elements have occurred.
  In September 2017, Russian government-owned media outlet RIA Novosti reported, with a reference to unnamed military and diplomatic sources, that the U.S. had voiced readiness to leave al-Tanf but did not say when.
  On 8 February 2018, following "an unprovoked attack" by the pro-Syrian government forces in eastern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S.-led Coalition inflicted multiple casualties among Russian private military contractors of the Wagner Group, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova said: "The unlawful US armed presence in Syria presents a serious challenge to the peace process and to the country's territorial integrity and unity. A 55-kilometer zone unilaterally created by Americans around their military base near al-Tanf is being used by the scattered units of ISIS militants" for evading pursuit by government forces and re-grouping. In mid-February 2018, Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, in an exclusive interview with Euronews, said that U.S. military presence in Syria generally and in the area of al-Tanf specifically "was illegal and unacceptable."
  In August 2018, U.S. State Department representative William V. Roebuck traveled to the cities of Manbij and Kobanî, both situated in Aleppo Governorate, as well as the town of al-Shaddadah in Hasakah Governorate. He was later due to visit Deir ez-Zor Governorate, half of which is held by the Kurdish-led Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. "We are prepared to stay here, as the president Donald Trump has made clear," he said after meeting with Kurdish officials.
  After the announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, U.S. National Security Advisor John 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. “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,” Safadi said.
  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 the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria and half at the al-Tanf garrison. The 200 at al-Tanf were to remain indefinitely.
  On 27 February, Syria and Russia released a joint statement again demanding all U.S. forces leave Syria, while also demanding U.S. forces allow Russian and Syrian authorities to evacuate the Rukban refugee camp along the Jordanian border to "relocate people in the Rubkan area and guarantee them safe passage to their places of permanent residence". Russia argued that the U.S. was holding the refugee camp "hostage" and potentially as human shields within the territory. According to a 24 March report by the U.S. government-funded Voice of America, the U.S.-backed Revolutionary Commando Army rebel group, which maintains aid access and provides security for the Rukban camp, said both refugees and U.S.-backed rebels in the zone depended on U.S. protection against attacks by pro-Syrian government militias and Islamic State-affiliated jihadists. A Rukban camp spokesman asserted that it was the Syrians and Russians that were "embargoing" the camp to force the refugees into reconciliation and to pressure U.S. troops to leave the strategically important al-Tanf military base.
  On 4 June 2019, representatives of more than 30 countries participated in a meeting with the command 
caption: U.S. Green Berets and Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT) on a joint patrol near Al-Tanf, 29 April 2020
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