ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – A US official on Thursday said that 600 American troops would be withdrawn from Syria, where they currently play a vital role in supporting Kurdish allies in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AP that the reduction would see 1,000 US troops left in the country.

The SDF currently controls the bulk of the northeastern and eastern regions of Syria, amounting to a quarter of the territory of the country. Formed in 2015, the SDF has been strongly backed by the US and is considered the Kurdish de facto army in Syria.

The withdrawal comes amid a tentative rapprochement between Kurdish authorities and the new government in Syria, with an agreement signed in early March paving the way for the SDF to be integrated into the Syrian military.

The US presence is deemed critical in forming a buffer to prevent Turkish attacks on Kurdish forces in northeastern Syria.

The US military and the SDF forged a close relationship during their joint campaign against the Islamic State (ISIS), though relations were strained in October 2019 when American forces withdrew from parts of northeastern Syria to facilitate a Turkish military operation against Kurdish forces.

Turkey considers the People’s Protection Units (YPG), which form the backbone of the SDF, as inextricably linked to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK); however, the YPG insists that it merely subscribes to similar ideology.

The PKK is an armed group that has fought for increased Kurdish rights in Turkey for decades. The group is designated a terrorist organization by Ankara.

US troop figures in Syria post-withdrawal will be similar to those of previous years following the territorial defeat of ISIS, with the American presence having been increased to 2,000 in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.