Pentagon denies setting up US base in Syria, but it could be for Kurdish allies
The US government has denied it is setting up a new operating base in northern Syria, despite reports saying thousands of US soldiers were about to be deployed to a new facility.
This mystery facility was said to be in Kobane, close to the Turkish border, with footage showing as many as 50 trucks in convoy, sparking rumours that the US was about to build a new base.
These trucks, on the main highway between Raqqah and Kobane in the north of the country, were carrying concrete blast walls, surveillance cameras, cement blocks, fuel tanks and digging machinery.
The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which monitors activity in Syria, said this was part of efforts by US forces to build a new base in the area.
The SOHR said it had information that troops, weapons and armoured vehicles were also en route.
But Sabrina Singh, a deputy Pentagon press secretary, said she had seen the reports, but denied they were true.
"There is no plans to build a US base in Kobane, so I'm not sure what that is coming from," she said.
In Syria, the US has 2,000 troops combating ISIS, with video footage also showing American military vehicles patrolling through Kobane.
But the fall of Bashar Al Assad's regime led many to speculate that the US would soon withdraw them, particularly with arch Syria-sceptic Donald Trump about to re-enter the White House.
In 2019, he pulled US troops out and in recent comments on social media he said the US shouldn't get involved in what's going on in Syria.
So, is the US building a new base there or not?
Well, it seems more likely now that this is some sort of facility for America's Kurdish allies in the region – the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
They've fought alongside US and coalition forces in the war on ISIS and control this part of northern Syria.
They're also embroiled in a bitter fight with another militia, the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army.
And this is why Kobane, positioned so close to the Turkish border, is so important.
Ankara sees the SDF, and two other Kurdish militias the PKK and YPG – which both want Kurdish autonomy – as one and the same.
It believes they're all terror groups, responsible for bombings and terror attacks inside Turkey that have left thousands dead.
The US sees things differently. It does brand the PKK a terrorist organisation, but not the YPG or the SDF, which it funds and arms.
Whether the US is going to withdraw completely come 20 January is a question for President-elect Trump.
But what seemed last week like America increasing its foothold in Syria may not be the case after all.
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