The US and Damascus have been cooperating against ISIS since 2025, especially after Syria said it would join the coalition against ISIS in November.
Jpost
The head of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, said that ‘US forces advised, assisted, and enabled Syrian partners during more than 20 operations against ISIS, diminishing the threat of terror attacks,’ in taped remarks for a Middle East Institute (MEI) conference on Wednesday.
‘We are sustaining our aggressive pursuit of ISIS in Syria,’ Cooper said, as the event was focused on the Syrian State, according to Kurdish media outlet Rudaw.
The US and Damascus have been cooperating against ISIS since 2025, especially after Syria said it would join the coalition against ISIS in November, followed by a meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara’a and US President Donald Trump.
This cooperation is important for CENTCOM’s posture in Syria because previously, the US worked primarily with the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Previously, the US had forces established at the Tanf Garrison in southern Syria, near the Jordanian border, a lonely outpost that was surrounded for years by the Assad regime, and, for years, a place where the US was training Syrian rebel groups.
The Syrian rebel group, calling itself the Syrian Free Army, later merged with the new Syrian government’s 70th Division after the fall of the Assad regime.
US and Syria eliminate ISIS weapons caches in 15 sites
The US has carried out raids in parts of Syria targeting extremist groups in places near Idlib and Afrin. However, having a Syrian government partner greatly helps the conflict against ISIS, which would mean that ISIS cells can’t find roots in the Syrian desert areas near Deir Ezzor.
In the past, ISIS was largely defeated east of the Euphrates by the SDF, which was backed by the US, which had up to 2,000 personnel in Syria to work with the SDF. However, on the west of the Euphrates, ISIS cells could still find a home during the chaos of the Assad regime.
The news that the US has been working with Syrian partners to conduct these operations is important. Cooper has visited Damascus several times, which illustrates how important this new connection is for the US.
In late November, CENTCOM said ‘forces from US Central Command (CENTCOM) and the Syrian Ministry of Interior located and destroyed more than 15 sites containing ISIS weapons caches in southern Syria, Nov. 24-27.’
The US added that ‘US military personnel from Combined Joint Task Force – Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTF-OIR) worked with Syrian forces in identifying and eliminating the ISIS weapons storage facilities across the Rif Damashq province during multiple airstrikes and ground detonations.’
Cooper said at the time, ‘This successful operation ensures gains made against ISIS are lasting, and the group is not able to regenerate or export terrorist attacks to the US homeland and around the world.’
The details provided to the MEI event give us a glimpse into operations and what comes next.
The US is working to ‘coordinate and foster collaboration with Syrian forces, our first line of effort in aggressively pursuing ISIS.’
In eastern Syria, the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces, which are mostly Kurdish-led, are also active. Rudaw media reported that ‘Cooper’s remarks came a day after the SDF announced the capture of an ISIS emir in a raid conducted in cooperation with the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in eastern Deir ez-Zor province. Another ISIS militant was killed in a separate attack on one of the SDF’s outposts in the same region.’
The report also says the SDF estimates that 2,000 ISIS fighters may remain active in Syria.
Arab News highlighted that Cooper provided other details in his pre-taped remarks. ‘Just to give an example, in October, US forces advised, assisted and enabled Syrian partners during more than 20 operations against (Daesh), diminishing the terrorists’ attacks and export of violence around the world,’ he said. ‘We’re also degrading their ability to regenerate.’
He also mentioned the challenge of the Al-Hol camp, where many ISIS detainee families live, people who were captured in 2019, and many ended up in a sprawling IDP camp.
The ISIS families, consisting of women and children, continue to radicalize new generations, with the women often from other countries, including Europe, who joined ISIS back in 2014-2015.
Arab News reported that ‘Cooper added that the issue of displacement camps in northeastern Syria must also be addressed. He said he has visited Al-Hawl camp four times since his first meeting with Al-Sharaa, ‘which reinforced my view of the need to accelerate repatriations.’
He also said, ‘The impact on displaced persons devastated by years of war and repression has been immense. As I mentioned in a late-September speech at the UN, continuing to repatriate displaced persons and detainees in Syria is both a humanitarian imperative and a strategic necessity.’
According to the report, there are now around 26,000 people in Al-Hol and the smaller Roj camp, a huge improvement from when there were 70,000.
The US hopes for the successful integration of the SDF with the new Damascus-backed security forces. Cooper said it could ‘lead to a more predictable and stable security environment.’
In March 2025, the SDF leader Mazloum Abdi met with Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara’a, and they agreed to integrate forces. Since then, there have been hurdles.
Reports indicate that the US Central Command has facilitated much of this, often behind the scenes, something important for Syria and the region.
Israel is also under the CENTCOM area of operations, and cooperation is at an all-time high. As such, it is also important in the regional context of Israel and Syria.