Syria army continues advance against Kurdish-held towns
The Syrian army continues to advance towards Kurdish-held territory despite US calls to stop its advance in northern Syria.
State media said the army captured the northern city of Tabqa and the dam next to it, as well as the large Freedom dam west of the Syrian city of Raqqa, formerly known as Baath.
Syrian Kurdish authorities did not acknowledge that they had lost control over these strategic points, and it was unclear whether fighting was continuing.
For days, Syrian troops gathered around a group of villages just west of the Euphrates River and called on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) stationed there to redeploy their forces across the river.
They are fighting over strategic points and oil fields on the banks of the Euphrates River.
SDF fighters withdrew from the area early Saturday as a sign of goodwill, but later accused Syrian troops of violating the agreement by continuing to advance further east into towns and oil fields not included in the agreement.
Brad Cooper, who heads the US military’s Central Command, said in a written statement published on social media platform
The initial withdrawal agreement covered the main town of Deir Hafer and some surrounding villages whose residents were predominantly Arab.
The SDF withdrew on Saturday, and as Syrian troops moved in relatively smoothly, residents celebrated their arrival.
“This happened with minimal casualties. Enough blood has been shed in this country, that is, in Syria. We have sacrificed and lost enough; people are tired of it,” Deir Hafer resident Hussein al-Halaf told Reuters.
The Syrian Oil Company said the nearby Rasafa and Sufyan oil fields were captured by Syrian troops and can now be put into operation again.
SDF forces had retreated east, some on foot, towards the flashpoint town of Tabqa; downriver but still on the west bank of the river and near the hydroelectric dam, a very important source of power.
However, when the Syrian army announced that it next aimed to capture Tabqa, the SDF said that this was not part of the original agreement and that it would fight to protect both the town and another oil field nearby.
The Syrian army said four of its soldiers were killed in attacks by Kurdish militants, while the SDF said some of its own fighters were killed but did not give a number.
US-led coalition aircraft flew over flashpoint towns and dropped warning flares, according to a Syrian security source.
The United States has had to recalibrate its Syria policy to balance its years-long support for the SDF, which is fighting the Islamic State, with Washington’s new support for Syrian President Ahmed al-Shara, whose rebel forces toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad in late 2024.
According to two Kurdish sources, US envoy Tom Barrack went to Erbil in northern Iraq on Saturday and met with both Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani in an attempt to end the conflict. There was no immediate comment from Barrack’s spokesman.
The latest violence has deepened the fault line between the Sharaa-led government, which has vowed to reunite the shattered country after 14 years of war, and local Kurdish officials wary of its Islamist-led rule.
