In two days, the Syrian army, supported by tribal militias, drove Kurdish forces from large swathes of northern Syria they had occupied for more than a decade.
Among the towns and cities captured by the Syrian army is Raqqa, once the infamous capital of the Islamic State group’s so-called caliphate. Geolocated videos showed tribal militias in the city center on Sunday, as well as military presence in other areas.
Much of Syria’s oil resources are also under government control for the first time in more than a decade.
Following the territorial gains, Syria’s president announced on Sunday that he had reached an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to cease fighting in the country’s northeast.
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi confirmed that an agreement had been reached to “withdraw Deir Ezzor and Raqqa forces to the Hasakah area to stop this war.”
Despite the ceasefire, both sides reported further clashes on Monday. The SDF announced violent clashes near two prisons holding ISIS detainees, and the Ministry of Defense accused the SDF of allowing some prisoners to escape from one of its facilities in Shadadi, Hasakah province. The Self-Defense Forces said the prison was “outside the control of our military.”
CNN was unable to verify either side’s claims.
The ministry said three soldiers were killed and accused Kurdish PKK militants and remnants of Assad’s regime of trying to undermine the deal.
Here’s what we know:
The sudden incursion into Kurdish-held territory comes after clashes broke out in the city of Aleppo and surrounding countryside earlier this month, and is the latest episode in a tense standoff between the central government and the Self-Defense Forces.
The SDF is a U.S.-backed group that is not part of the rebel alliance that toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2024.
On Friday, the SDF agreed to withdraw from the Aleppo region to the east bank of the Euphrates River, its first territorial concession to the new government.
However, the Syrian army advanced into areas outside the agreement, and Kurdish forces withdrew.
The advance of the Syrian army into several areas has usurped the SDF’s control over both mineral resources and rich agricultural land.
The army and its tribe allies have taken control of large parts of Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces that border Iraq, while Arab militias have also invaded Kurdish-held Hasakah province.
In the process, the army captured two hydroelectric dams on the Euphrates River, according to the Syrian Energy Ministry. The larger facility provides much of the nation’s drinking water and, if renovated, could provide about 900 megawatts of electricity.
The Syrian army also took control of oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor province, including the largest oil field called al-Omar, al-Tanak oil field and Conoco oil field, officials said.
The agreement announced by the Syrian President’s Office on Sunday said the government would immediately take control of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, as well as all oil and gas fields and the country’s borders.
According to the document, civilian institutions in Hasakah, which borders Turkey, will be integrated into the Syrian state.
The document added that SDF members will be integrated into the Syrian army and security forces on an individual basis. The SDF has not yet commented on Sunday’s agreement, but it has advocated having Kurdish forces within its ranks.
The SDF has long controlled many areas inhabited primarily by Arab tribes, many of whom are now joining the fight. When ISIS controlled much of northeastern Syria, the SDF expanded its territory as it worked with the U.S.-led coalition in the fight against ISIS.
When Assad was overthrown, the government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa rejected the concept of a federal Syria and called for the Damascus writ to apply throughout the country.
A number of negotiations took place between the government and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi. And for a time, it appeared that an agreement might be reached to integrate Kurdish fighters into the Syrian security forces and extend the Damascus government’s political control over territory in northern and eastern Syria.
Last March, al-Sharah and Abdi signed an agreement, which the Syrian president said aimed to “ensure the rights of all Syrians, regardless of their religious or ethnic background, in representation and participation in the political process and in all state institutions, based on their merits.”
However, the Kurds were reluctant to give up areas under their control, and there was no agreement on integrating Kurdish forces into the national army.
Damascus promised the Kurds wide cultural autonomy, including the use of the Kurdish language in schools. Indeed, on Friday, al-Sharaa signed a decree promising Kurdish cultural and language rights and granting Syrian citizenship to thousands who have been deprived of it for decades.
SDF leadership said the concessions were not enough.
At the same time, many Arabs living in Kurdish-controlled areas of Syria were losing patience.
In the town of al-Tabqa, which was captured by government forces on Saturday, residents were waiting for the army to arrive to “eliminate this (Kurdish) gang that all the people are complaining about and fed up with,” resident Mohamed Kalousi told Reuters, according to multiple videos and eyewitness accounts.
“We advise Arab tribes to remain calm and leave room for the terms of the agreement to be implemented,” al-Sharah said on Sunday, after Arab militias joined the army in clashes with the SDF.
Government forces took control of the city of Raqqa late Sunday. Geolocated videos showed snipers on city rooftops and tribal militiamen celebrating in the streets.
A predominantly Kurdish regime has run the city since it was liberated from ISIS.
Mullah Ahmad al-Hajj, a Raqqa resident, told CNN early Sunday that he had taken part in fighting with the SDF.
“Anyone who opposes[SDF’s]self-governance will be put in jail,” Mulla insisted. “They shouldn’t have been here in the first place.”
“The local residents of Raqqa will fully hand over the city to the Syrian government in order to take control of the city and protect its institutions, security and stability,” Syrian state television reported on Sunday.
A new governor was appointed for the region on Monday.
Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for Syria, who visited Damascus on Sunday for talks with al-Sharat, later praised the ceasefire agreement announced by the presidential administration in a post on X as “paving the way for new dialogue and cooperation towards a united Syria.”
He pledged that the United States would “firmly” support the integration process “to protect our nation’s vital national security interest in defeating the remnants of ISIS.”
The United States had expressed concern that the disruption would negatively impact coalition efforts against ISIS remnants in rural Syria.
On Saturday, Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. Central Command, called on the Syrian government to “cease all acts of aggression between Aleppo and Altabqa” to ensure a common front against ISIS.
It is unclear whether Kurdish security forces still guard the largest camp for relatives of ISIS fighters in al-Hol, near the Iraqi border. But the agreement reached on Sunday says the government is responsible for guarding facilities holding ISIS prisoners.
The SDF announced on Monday that it would no longer control Shadadi prison, which houses hundreds of suspected ISIS fighters, following “repeated attacks by Damascus factions.”
In response, the Syrian army accused the SDF of releasing ISIS prisoners and said its forces were beginning to move into Shadadi to restore order.
