{"id":46666,"date":"2019-01-29T17:13:13","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T17:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/01\/29\/us-in-early-stages-of-withdrawal-as-isis-squeezed-into-a-few-square-miles\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:57:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:57:07","slug":"us-in-early-stages-of-withdrawal-as-isis-squeezed-into-a-few-square-miles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2019\/01\/29\/us-in-early-stages-of-withdrawal-as-isis-squeezed-into-a-few-square-miles\/","title":{"rendered":"US in \u2018early stages\u2019 of withdrawal, as ISIS squeezed into a few square miles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The noose is tightening on the final group of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/10\/03\/last-pocket-of-isis-fighters-surrounded-dod-official-says\/\" target=\"_blank\">Islamic State fighters<\/a> along Syria\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/12\/19\/heres-what-may-be-driving-a-us-troop-withdrawal-from-syria\/\" target=\"_blank\">Middle Euphrates River Valley<\/a>, as U.S. troops prepare for their own departure once the terror group\u2019s physical holdings are finally eliminated, Pentagon officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2018\/09\/25\/the-white-house-just-revealed-massive-mission-creep-in-syria-heres-why\/\" target=_blank>ISIS&#8217; last stretch of territory<\/a> has been crunched into a tiny area measuring roughly six square kilometers, according to Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While the SDF have conducted most of the fighting against ISIS, their forces are backed by U.S. troops, to include artillery teams, special operations advisers, reconnaissance drones and fighter aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those Americans, however, are in the \u201cearly stages\u201d of withdrawal, Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan told reporters Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWe are on a deliberate, coordinated, disciplined withdrawal,\u201d Shanahan said. \u201c99.5 percent plus of the ISIS-controlled territory has been returned to the Syrians. &#8230; Within a couple of weeks it will be 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanahan said that ISIS no longer has the freedom of movement necessary to mass its troops, and their financial capabilities have been significantly diminished.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe risk of terrorism and mass migration has been significantly mitigated,&#8221; Shanahan said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Last week, an ISIS car bomb attempted an attack on a U.S. and local partner force convoy in northeastern Syria. The car was detonated before it could reach the allies and caused no friendly casualties, according to SDF and American officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/news\/your-military\/2019\/01\/22\/isis-car-bomb-targets-us-troops-in-syria-one-week-after-four-americans-were-killed-in-manbij\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"167\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Capture.JPG_356ab3.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">ISIS car bomb targets US troops in Syria one week after four Americans were killed in Manbij<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The attack comes just days after four Americans, including two service members, were killed in the Syrian town of Manbij.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attack occurred during a \u201croutine field mission,&#8221; the SDF said in a statement, adding that ISIS has been \u201cintensifying its attacks&#8221; as the group\u2019s territory dissolves across Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The week before the car bomb incident, on Jan. 16, a group of American military personnel and U.S. Defense Department civilians were attacked by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2019\/01\/18\/pentagon-identifies-three-americans-killed-in-syria\/\" target=_blank>a suicide bomber<\/a> during a meeting in a restaurant in Manbij, northern Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some have pointed to the attacks as evidence of ISIS&#8217; shift to a terror organization, rather than a regular fighting force that holds ground and defends it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The final ISIS pocket \u201cuses thousands of civilians as human shields in order to stop the progress of SDF,\u201d Bali, the SDF spokesman, said over social media. \u201cThey send messages via smugglers demanding an agreement which will let them flee the area in return for releasing civilians.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Bali said the remaining ISIS fighters have been asking SDF commanders to provide them with safe passage to Turkey or Idlib, Syria, where an al-Qaeda branch known as Hayat Tahrir al-Sham holds territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAll their demands were rejected by the Syrian Democratic Forces,&#8221; Bali said. &#8220;[The] operation will go on until the last terrorist is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"4704\" height=\"2557\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-85401\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg 4704w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg?resize=300,163 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg?resize=768,417 768w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg?resize=1024,557 1024w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg?resize=1536,835 1536w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4968345.jpg.jpg?resize=2048,1113 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 4704px) 100vw, 4704px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Members of Syrian partner forces form up for graduation after completing a final combat assessment in the Dayr Az Zawr Province, Syria, Dec. 6, 2018. Continued assistance to partner forces is essential to setting conditions for regional stability. The Coalition and its partners remain united and resolved to prevent the resurgence of ISIS and its violent extremist ideology. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Arjenis Nunez\/Released)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A <a href=\"https:\/\/undocs.org\/en\/S\/2018\/770\" target=_blank>United Nations Security Council report<\/a> this summer said that ISIS has between 20,000 and 30,000 loyal members distributed between Syria and Iraq, including thousands of foreign terrorist fighters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, it remains unclear how active those ISIS members are in the group\u2019s terror network, as well as whether the U.S. should remain in the country to conduct a counter insurgency mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shanahan told reporters that the Pentagon is looking at ways to sustain a local security apparatus in Syria, despite the U.S. withdrawal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s where the support of the local coalition, these partnerships, are so critical,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. has been engaging with local partners, to include Syrian Arabs and Kurds, regarding the next role they will play in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe discussions hold real promise,&#8221; Shanahan said. &#8220;I want to underscore the real part. Obviously, lots of contentious issues. The people who are working them, I have high confidence in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still at question is how and when eastern Syria will be reunited with the western part of the country, where the Bashar al-Assad regime has consolidated its hold alongside Russian backing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ISIS&#8217; last stretch of territory has been crunched into a tiny area measuring roughly six square kilometers, according to Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or 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By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>US in \u2018early stages\u2019 of withdrawal, as ISIS squeezed into a few square miles - Air Force TImes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"ISIS&#039; last stretch of territory has been crunched into a tiny area measuring roughly six square kilometers, according to Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US in \u2018early stages\u2019 of withdrawal, as ISIS squeezed into a few square miles\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ISIS&#039; last stretch of territory has been crunched 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