A report by NPR wrote that when Salim Turki al-Anteri led his opposition forces into battle against regime troops in southern Syria earlier this month, he faced his own former tank unit.

Anteri, a colonel and commander of the Syrian Free Army (SFA), a small opposition force trained by the US prior to the former Syrian regime's fall, spoke with NPR from his base near a remote US military outpost in southern Syria. Al-Anteri had joined ISIS where he served as an Emir, and then left it to join the US-trained SFA later on in 2017.

His unit, comprising around 600 fighters, is among dozens of former opposition groups awaiting integration into the new Syrian security forces. Their future role is to be determined under Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

The occupation base at al-Tanf, originally established by US Special Forces, has played a critical role in training Syrian opposition fighters, including Anteri's group. Situated approximately 200 miles from Damascus on the main highway to Baghdad, it symbolizes the extensive US involvement in the region.

The Syrian regime collapsed in a swift offensive by opposition forces in December, controlling the country with minimal resistance after over a decade of civil war.

Anteri attributes the lack of resistance from regime soldiers his forces encountered to their awareness of US support for the SFA. In addition to wearing patches with Syrian insignias, Anteri instructed his fighters to include patches bearing the American flag, NPR highlighted.

US involvement in Syria hinges on incoming Trump administration policy

Since severing diplomatic relations with Syria in 2012, the US has maintained occupation bases in southern and eastern Syria outside Syrian legal authority under the US-led coalition allegedly established to counter ISIS.

NPR cited a senior US military official as saying that expanding the US role in Syria would necessitate dialogue with any new Syrian government.

"We don't want to start just tromping around Syria," the official said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorized to speak publicly. 

"It would be better if we understood how they felt about that and open that discussion with them before we do anything."

Pending such discussions, the US plans to continue launching airstrikes against ISIS and supporting Syrian forces it trains and advises, he pointed out.

The future of US involvement also hinges on policy decisions by the incoming Trump administration, the report added.

It mentioned that the dissolution of the US-led anti-ISIS coalition, driven by the Iraqi government, will be replaced by bilateral agreements. Under the current agreement, US forces will remain in federally controlled Iraq until the end of this year and in the Iraqi Kurdistan region until the end of 2026.

Meanwhile, the continuing US troop presence in northeastern Syria serves to protect oil fields in the region.

Although ISIS has been significantly weakened since its control of large parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, the group still maintains a presence in Syria, including near historic Palmyra, which is Anteri’s hometown.

As these developments unfold, former opposition groups like Anteri’s await decisions regarding their roles in the emerging national security framework. the NPR report concluded.

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