US To Establish Military Presence At Airbase In Damascus: Report

Last Updated:November 06, 2025, 18:27 IST

The US plans a military presence at a Syrian airbase to support a security pact between Syria and Israel, with President Donald Trump set to meet Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The Pentagon has stepped up its plans over the last two months with several reconnaissance missions to the base. (Reuters Image)

The US is preparing to set up a military presence at an airbase in Syria’s capital to enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, according to Reuters.

Reuters cited sources, including two Western officials and a Syrian defence official, as saying that the US was planning to use the base to help monitor a potential Israel-Syria agreement.

While there has been no official confirmation on the matter, a US administration officials said that Washington was “constantly evaluating our necessary posture in Syria to effectively combat ISIS (Islamic State) and (we) do not comment on locations or possible locations of (where) forces operate.”

Another officials said that the Pentagon has stepped up its plans over the last two months with several reconnaissance missions to the base. Those missions concluded the base’s long runway was ready for immediate use, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will be meeting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the White House on Monday, the first such visit by a Syrian head of state.

According to Reuters, the new US plans appear to mirror two other new US military presences in the region monitoring cessation of hostilities agreements: one in Lebanon, which closely watches last year’s ceasefire between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel, and one in Israel that monitors the Trump-era truce between Palestinian military group Hamas and Israel.

The US already has troops stationed in northeastern Syria to help the Kurdish-led force fight the Islamic State. In April this year, the Pentagon said it would halve the number of troops there to 1,000.

Reuters quoted a person familiar with the talks over the base as saying that the move was discussed during a trip by Admiral Brad Cooper, Commander of the US Central Command (CENTCOM), to Damascus on September 12.

As per a CENTCOM statement, Cooper and US envoy to Syria Thomas Barrack had met Sharaa and thanked him for contributing to the fight against IS in Syria, which it said could help accomplish Trump’s “vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors”.

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