Syrian army surges into Kurdish-held towns in ‘betrayal’ shattering prospects of accord

Syria’s army has taken control of swathes of the country’s north, dislodging Kurdish forces from territory over which they held effective autonomy for more than a decade.

State media said on Saturday that the army took over the northern city of Tabqa and its adjacent dam, as well as the major Freedom dam, formerly known as the Baath, west of the Syrian city of Raqaa. It came despite US calls to halt the advance.

The government appeared to be extending its grip on Kurdish-run areas after the Syrian president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, issued a decree declaring Kurdish a national language and granting the minority group official recognition.

The army advanced after implementation of a March 2025 deal – intended to integrate Kurdish forces into the state – stalled.

Government troops drove Kurdish forces from two Aleppo neighbourhoods last week and on Saturday took control of an area east of the city.

For days, Syrian troops had amassed around a cluster of villages that lie just west of the winding Euphrates and had called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stationed there to redeploy their forces on the opposite bank of the river. They have been clashing over strategic posts and oilfields along the Euphrates River.

From the Article:

“The US has had to recalibrate its Syria policy to balance years of backing for the SDF – which fought against Islamic State – against Washington’s new support for the Syrian president, whose rebel forces ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.

To try to end the fighting, US envoy Tom Barrack travelled to Erbil in northern Iraq on Saturday to meet with SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, according to two Kurdish sources. There was no immediate comment from Barrack’s spokesperson.

The latest violence has deepened the fault line between the government led by Sharaa, who has vowed to reunify the fractured country after 14 years of war, and local Kurdish authorities wary of his Islamist-led administration.

The two sides engaged in months of talks last year to integrate Kurdish-run military and civilian bodies into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, repeatedly saying that they wanted to resolve disputes diplomatically. But after the deadline passed with little progress, clashes broke out earlier this month in Aleppo and ended with a withdrawal of Kurdish fighters. Syrian troops then amassed around towns in the north and east to pressure Kurdish authorities into making concessions in the deadlocked talks with Damascus.

Kurdish authorities still hold Arab-majority areas in the country’s east that are home to some of Syria’s largest oil and gas fields. Arab tribal leaders in SDF-held territory have told Reuters they are ready to take up arms against the Kurdish force if Syria’s army issues orders to do so.

Kurdish fears have been deepened by bouts of sectarian violence in 2025 when nearly 1,500 Alawites were killed by government-aligned forces in western Syria and hundreds of Druze were killed in southern Syria, some in execution-style killings.”

We supported the ISIS Syrians for a decade plus. We installed their leader as the “president”. We invited him to the White House. And DC is surprised?

Ungrateful terrorists. We flew top cover and bombed anyone who bothered ISIS since the Obama years. We chest bumped the Russians and even killed them when they menaced our ISIS/Jeffersonian rebels/SDF or whatever you call them this week. The Israelis scrupulously attacked anyone arrayed against them.

Now the headchoppers run the place.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.