Syria’s leader is aiming to be killed regularly, says a UN report, as the US provides a military base
Listen to this article
Average 4 minutes
The audio version of this article was created by AI-based technology. It can be mispronounced. We are working with our partners to continuously review and improve the results.
Syrian government forces have taken control of a base in the east of the country that has been held by US forces for years as part of the war against the Islamic State group, the Ministry of Defense said in a statement on Thursday.
It comes on the heels of news that the interim president of the country, Ahmad al-Sharaa, and a number of Syrian ministers, were the victims of five failed assassination attempts last year, according to a report released by the United Nations on Wednesday.
The al-Tanf base sits in a strategic location, near the borders of Jordan and Iraq. In a tense statement, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said that the surrender of the base took place in cooperation with the US military and the Syrian army that is now “defending its base and borders.”
Two US officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the handover to Reuters.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense also said that the Syrian army is still in the desert surrounding the al-Tanf army, with border guards to be deployed in the coming days.
The deployment of Syrian troops in and around al-Tanf comes after an agreement last month between the government and the US-led Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, for a military alliance.
Al-Tanf garrison has been attacked several times over the years by drones by Iran-backed groups, but such attacks have decreased significantly following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in Syria in December 2024, when rebel groups marched on his seat of power in Damascus. Assad fled to Russia.
The Al-Tanf foundation played a major role in the fight against the Islamic State group which declared a caliphate in large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014. IS was defeated in Iraq in 2017 and in Syria two years later.
In recent weeks, the US military has begun transferring thousands of ISIS prisoners from SDF-run prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, where they will be prosecuted.
Sites detailed by the UN
Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been expanding his control over the country, and last month, government forces captured large swaths of northeastern Syria after deadly clashes with the SDF.
An agreement was then reached between the government and the SDF.
After decades of rule, the Assad regime has fallen to Syrian rebel groups led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham. Andrew Chang breaks down the two weeks of intense fighting that led to this earthquake of rebel forces. Photos provided by Getty Images, The Canadian Press and Reuters Connect. Additional credits: 0:05: BBC News/YouTube, 0:09: PBS NewsHour/YouTube, 0:13: Reuters social media, 0:14: Reuters social media, 1:52: FRANCE 24 English/YouTube, 1:56: FRANCE 24 English/YouTube, 1:57: ABC News (Australia)
Al-Sharaa, as well as the interior and foreign ministers of Syria, were the victims of five failed assassination attempts last year, according to a report released by the United Nations on Wednesday.
The report said that al-Sharaa is targeting the north of Aleppo, which is the most populated province in the country, while the south of Daraa is targeting a group called Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, which is intended to be the front of the Islamic State group.
The report, issued by Secretary General António Guterres and prepared by the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, did not provide dates or details of the efforts against al-Sharaa or Syrian Interior Minister Anas Hasan Khattab and Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani.
ISIS remains a significant presence
The assassination attempts are further evidence that ISIS remains intent on undermining the new Syrian government and “actively exploiting areas of insecurity and uncertainty” in Syria, the report said.
According to UN counterterrorism experts, the Islamic State group maintains approximately 3,000 fighters in Iraq and Syria, most of whom are based in Syria. UN counterterrorism experts say the militant group is still active throughout the country, attacking security forces, especially in the north and northeast.
Some Syrians are returning home a year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s brutal regime. CBC’s Briar Stewart recently crossed the Öncüpınar border in southern Turkey to talk to the families about their decision to return.
In November, Sharaa’s government joined the international coalition formed to fight the Islamic State group, which once controlled much of Syria.
Al-Sharaa was formerly the leader of Hayar Tahrir al-Sham, a militant group that was once allied with al-Qaeda, though it later severed ties.
