U.S. shift leaves Kurdish S.D.F. vulnerable as Syrian government seizes northeast

A Kurdish force that helped defeat the Islamic State, the Syrian Democratic Forces, is collapsing in northeastern Syria as the United States shifts support to President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s new government, allowing Damascus to move troops into the region. The S.D.F. had been Washington’s closest ally in Syria, fighting ISIS, guarding American bases and running internment camps and prisons holding tens of thousands.

Without U.S. backing the Kurdish-led force wobbled and retreated, ending a standoff that began after Mr. al-Sharaa took power in December 2024 and opening the way for the government to seize strategic territory, oil fields and agricultural land. The U.S.-S.D.F. partnership began after the rise of ISIS in 2013, including a U.S.

airdrop of weapons to Kobani in 2014, and expanded as the S.D.F. grew and added Arab fighters. The alliance angered Turkey and some Syrian rebel groups. U.S. envoy Thomas J. Barrack Jr. negotiated an agreement between Mr. al-Sharaa and S.D.F. leader Mazloum Abdi in March last year, but talks stalled and the S.D.F.

missed a deadline to integrate into the Damascus government by the end of 2025. S.D.F. leaders and supporters have appealed for a clearer U.S. stance and wider international backing; Ilham Ahmed said at a news conference that a lack of reaction made it "easy to presume they gave a green light." Analysts cited the embrace of Mr.

Key Topics

World, Syrian Democratic Forces, Northeastern Syria, Hasakah, Mazloum Abdi, Ahmed Al-sharaa