US poised to reduce Syria troop presence by half, officials say

PHOTO CAPTION: U.S. Army soldiers deployed to At-Tanf Garrison, Syria, fire an 81mm mortar round with a M-ATV Special Forces All-Terrain Vehicle in the background during a joint patrol with Green Berets July 18, 2020. (US Army Photo by Spc. Chris Estrada via DVIDS)

By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -     The U.S. military is set to consolidate its presence in Syria over the coming weeks and months, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Tuesday, in a move that could reduce the number of troops it has in the country by half. 

The U.S. military has about 2,000 U.S. troops in Syria across a number of bases, mostly in the northeast. The troops are working with local forces to prevent a resurgence of Islamic State, which in 2014 seized large swathes of Iraq and Syria but was later pushed back. 

One of the officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that consolidation could reduce the number of troops in Syria to about 1,000. 

Another U.S. official confirmed the plan for a reduction, but said there was no certainty on numbers and was skeptical of a decrease of that scale at a time when President Donald Trump's administration has been negotiating with Iran and building up forces in the region. 

The United States has recently sent aircraft including B-2 bombers, warships and air defense systems to reinforce the Middle East. 

Trump said on Monday that he believes Iran is intentionally delaying a nuclear deal with the United States and that it must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face a possible military strike on Tehran's atomic facilities.

Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is carrying out a global review of U.S. military troops around the world. 

The Islamist-led government in Syria that took over after Bashar Assad was ousted in December has sought to rebuild Syria's ties in the region and further afield.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, backed by the U.S., last month signed a deal with Damascus on merging Kurdish-led governing bodies and security forces with the central government.

The U.S. gave Syria a list in March of conditions to fulfill in exchange for partial sanctions relief but the Trump administration has otherwise engaged little with the country's new rulers.

Some White House officials have been keen to take a more hardline stance, pointing to the new Syrian leadership's former ties to Al-Qaeda as reason to keep engagement to a minimum.

 (Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)