Syria Extends Ceasefire With Kurdish Forces By 15 Days
Qamishli Syria It was stated that the four-day ceasefire between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces, which ended on Saturday night, was extended for 15 days, and both sides extended it for a while despite the increasing tension.
Government troops have captured large parts of northern and eastern regions from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the past two weeks; Events developed rapidly, consolidating President Ahmed al-Shara’s rule.
Sharaa’s forces were closing in on the SDF’s last strongholds earlier this week when Sharaa suddenly declared a ceasefire, giving them until Saturday night to lay down their weapons and make a plan to integrate with the Syrian army or continue fighting.
Earlier on Saturday, a Syrian official said the SDF had not responded to government outreach attempts, while the SDF accused the government of moving “systematically” towards escalation through military reinforcements.
But about an hour before midnight, the Syrian defense ministry announced that its forces would suspend military operations for another 15 days in support of the ongoing US operation to transfer ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq.
The SDF said in a statement that the agreement was reached through international mediation “while the dialogue with Damascus continues.”
In the statement made by the ministry, it was stated that the new ceasefire came into force at 23:00 (2000 GMT).
SOURCES SAY THAT THE USA AND FRANCE ARE PAYING ATTENTION TO SHARIA ABOUT THE KURDS
The United States has been conducting shuttle diplomacy to ensure a permanent ceasefire and facilitate the integration of the SDF, Washington’s main partner in Syria for years, into the state led by its new favorite ally, Sharaa.
Senior US and French officials have urged Sharaa not to send its troops into Kurdish-held areas out of fear that renewed fighting could lead to mass abuses against Kurdish civilians, diplomatic sources told Reuters.
Government forces killed nearly 1,500 members of the Alawite minority and hundreds of Druze last year in sectarian violence, including execution-style killings.
These Palestinian Bedouin families from the Ein al-Auja community in the occupied West Bank gathered to leave their homeland on Saturday…
Amid instability in the northeast, the U.S. military is transferring hundreds of detained fighters from ISIS across the border into Iraq from Syrian prisons formerly run by the SDF.
THE RESULT OF A YEAR IN WHICH TENSIONS INCREASED
Kurdish security sources told Reuters that SDF forces were strengthening defensive positions in the cities of Qamishli, Hasakeh and Kobane against a possible conflict as the deadline approached on Saturday.
The potential showdown is the culmination of tensions that have been rising over the past year.
Sharaa, whose forces overthrew long-ruling Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, has vowed to bring all of Syria, including SDF-held areas in the northeast, under state control.
But Kurdish authorities, who have operated autonomous civilian and military institutions in the region for the past decade, have resisted joining Sharaa’s Islamist-led government.
After a period with little progress toward unification until the end of the year, Syrian troops launched the offensive this month.
They quickly captured two key Arab-majority provinces from the SDF; They have taken major oil fields, hydroelectric dams, and some facilities housing Islamic State fighters and their civilians under government control.
