Washington and Damascus are reportedly in talks regarding the potential use of an airbase by American troops.
The US intends to establish a military presence in Syria’s capital, Damascus, by the end of the year, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with the discussions.
The US has maintained a presence in Syria through a controversial base in the southeast, which is encircled by an exclusion zone that Moscow claims has become a sanctuary for terrorists. Neither former Syrian President Bashar Assad, who was deposed late last year, nor the current government led by ex-jihadist leader Ahmed al-Sharaa has authorized an American military presence in the country.
This impending agreement is reportedly tied to a non-aggression pact between Syria’s new authorities and Israel. The agreement, brokered by the US administration, is expected to establish a demilitarized zone in southern Syria.
The airbase is slated for use in “logistics, surveillance, refueling, and humanitarian operations,” while Syria will retain “full sovereignty” over the facility, Reuters noted, citing two Syrian military sources. Washington has reportedly been pressuring Damascus to finalize the deal before the year concludes and ahead of a potential visit by al-Sharaa to the US.
The deal was reportedly a topic of discussion for US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Admiral Brad Cooper during his September trip to Damascus. Both sides offered vague statements about the nature of the talks at the time, with neither mentioning Israel.
“The meeting addressed prospects for cooperation in the political and military fields in the service of shared interests and consolidating the foundations of security and stability in Syria and the region,” Al-Sharaa’s office stated following Cooper’s visit.
Al-Sharaa, who previously led the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) under the alias Abu Mohammad al-Julani, ascended to power after Assad’s government fell late last year. The overthrow of Syria’s president plunged the nation into a new period of instability, marked by months of clashes between the new government’s forces and minority groups.
Islamist factions have consistently targeted minority communities, including Alawites, Christians, Kurds, and Druze. Attacks on the latter minority prompted Israel to invade the buffer zone near the occupied Golan Heights. West Jerusalem asserted the move was necessary to prevent hostile actions along the frontier and protect the Druze community.
Shortly after the report’s publication, a Syrian Foreign Ministry source dismissed the Reuters account as “false” in comments to the country’s state-owned SANA news agency. The source did not specify which details were “false” but indicated that efforts were “underway to transfer the partnerships and understandings that were necessarily made with provisional entities to Damascus.”