US military bases: Examining America's military footprint in Syria

Report by Wissam Nasrallah, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

After nearly three months of relative calm, American military bases in Syria have once again become targets, with the US-held Kharab al-Jir base in the northeastern province of Al-Hasakah being struck by rockets.

This base is one of many American bases across Syria. So, how are they distributed?

In Al-Hasakah, the American presence is prominently tied to oil.

The first American points in Syria were at the Rmeilan Base, located southeast of the oil-rich city of Rmelan in the northeastern Al-Hasakah countryside.

Then there is the Tel Baidar Base, west of Al-Hasakah city, integrated with the Lifestone and Qasrak bases, to carry out missions in rural Al-Hasakah.

Moving to the Deir ez-Zor countryside, the Al-Omar Oil Field Base is the largest American base in the country, equipped with airstrips for drones and helicopters and housing combat helicopters.

The attack on Kharab al-Jir base caused no casualties, but a strike on the Tower 22 base on January 28, 2024, near the Syrian-Jordanian-Iraqi border, resulted in the deaths of 3 American soldiers and injuries to 25 others.

Tower 22, along with the US-held Al-Tanf Base in Syrian territories, makes up what is known as Area 55. What is this Area?

Area 55 encompasses Tower 22 with hundreds of US soldiers and the nearby Al-Tanf Base, located on the highway connecting Damascus to Tehran via Baghdad.

Surrounding Tower 22 and Al-Tanf is a demilitarized area spanning 55 square kilometers, established under a US-Russian agreement in 2016.

The missions of these bases include combating ISIS, countering Iran-backed groups in the region, training opposition armed groups, and more.

All of these bases are considered by Damascus as an occupation of its territory, as reiterated by President Bashar al-Assad.

Assad revealed ongoing Syrian-American contacts but did not specify the nature of these meetings.

Did they only discuss the American military presence in Syria, or did they address unresolved issues between the two countries, notably the case of American journalist Austin Tice, who was abducted in Syria in 2012?