Today, Monday, March 4, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) announced that the commander of CENTCOM has made a visit to the Central Area of Responsibility, including Syria.

According to a statement by the command, General Michael Erik Kurilla conducted visits to Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Israel to better understand the security and humanitarian situations and to meet with American service members and security partners.

On February 28, General Kurilla visited military facilities of the US Central Command in Jordan and Syria, including “Tower 22” (opposite al-Tanf in Jordanian territory), the al-Tanf site, the Rmeilan landing zone, the Euphrates support force, and Green Village, to assess ongoing improvements in force protection, meet with local leaders, and gain a direct understanding of the progress made in defeating the Islamic State organization.

He also visited the al-Roj and al-Hol camps, meeting with officials in the area, and dozens of residents, to discuss the repatriation of Islamic State detainees and those affected by the conflict, for their rehabilitation and reintegration, as there are more than 45,000 displaced persons in the camps and more than 9,000 Islamic State detainees in Syria.

This visit comes after an escalation in the region since last January, following the killing of three US soldiers in Jordan on the border with Syria, at a military point known as “Tower 22,” in an attack also wounding more than 40 other American soldiers, carried out by a one-way (suicidal) drone and claimed by Iranian-backed Shiite factions in Iraq.

On February 12, US President Joe Biden announced that American military forces had struck targets in Iraq and Syria in response to their killing.

The United States also targeted through a series of strikes 85 locations in Syria and Iraq on January 28, in response to the killing of its soldiers by bombing Iran was accused of being involved in.

High-level visit a year ago

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, General Mark Milley, made an undisclosed visit to a US base in Syria, emphasizing the necessity of keeping US forces in the region to face the Islamic State.

General Milley stopped briefly on March 4, 2023, at a logistical base to speak with the forces and leaders and to provide recommendations for the future of the US Defense Department operations in northeastern Syria, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.

More than 900 US soldiers are stationed at various locations in northeastern Syria to confront the Islamic State organization, and to train and advise the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), supported by Washington.