ISIS ambush spotlights shrinking US military presence in Syria

Published December 16, 2025 7:00am ET



The killing of three Americans in Syria by an ISIS fighter over the weekend highlighted U.S. military presence in the Middle Eastern country, more than five years after the territorial defeat of the Islamic State.

There are roughly 1,000 American troops still in Syria, a U.S. defense official told the Washington Examiner on Monday, a reduction from where the tally had been when President Donald Trump returned to office last January.

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