The United Kingdom has withdrawn its troops from the coalition-operated al-Tanf base in Syria’s southwestern desert and de facto ended all military assistance hitherto provided to Free Syrian Army (FSA) affiliated mercenaries in the region.

Just like US military personnel who were also part of the so-called “moderate opposition” training program in southern Syria, British special forces troops operated from a coalition base established at the town of al-Tanf near Syria’s border with Iraq.

Virtually all of the FSA fighters who were part of the Pentagon-vetted training program had, in previous years, fought pro-government forces in Syria’s Deir Ezzor region alongside the Al-Qaeda-linked Jahbat al-Nusra terrorist group.