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

The Syrian army has seized control of parts of the country’s north and pushed Kurdish forces away from areas where they had enjoyed de facto autonomy for more than a decade.

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, state media said on Saturday. It came despite US calls to halt progress.

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

The army made progress after implementation of the March 2025 agreement aimed at integrating Kurdish forces into the state stalled.

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

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.

The SDF said on Saturday that Damascus had “violated recent agreements and betrayed our forces” and clashes with troops had broken out south of Tabqa. The military, meanwhile, called on the SDF to “immediately fulfill their stated commitments and withdraw completely” to the east of the river.

Syrian state media reported on Sunday that Kurdish-led forces destroyed two main bridges over the Euphrates River in the Raqqa region. “SDG [Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces] Sana news agency, quoting the Raqqa information directorate, said that the organization blew up the new Alrashid bridge in the city of Raqqa.

It was previously reported that a bridge leading to the city of Raqqa was blown up by Kurdish fighters.

Brad Cooper, who heads the US military’s Central Command, said in a written statement that Syrian troops must “cease all offensive actions in the areas” between the city of Aleppo and the town of Tabqa, about 160 km to the east.

French president Emmanuel Macron and Iraqi Kurdistan leader Nechirvan Barzani also called for tension reduction and a ceasefire.

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; It was downriver but still on the west bank of the river and near the hydroelectric dam, a crucial 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. Both sides were accused of violating the withdrawal agreement.

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 years of support for the SDF, which is fighting the Islamic State, with Washington’s new support for the Syrian president, whose rebel forces overthrow 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 SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani in order 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.

The two sides held talks for months last year to integrate Kurdish-controlled military and civilian units into Syrian state institutions by the end of 2025, and have repeatedly stated that they want to resolve the disputes diplomatically. However, after little progress, clashes broke out in Aleppo at the beginning of this month and ended with the withdrawal of Kurdish fighters. Syrian soldiers later gathered around towns in the north and east to pressure Kurdish officials to make concessions in deadlocked talks with Damascus.

Kurdish authorities still hold Arab-majority areas in the country’s east, home to some of Syria’s largest oil and gas fields. Arab tribal leaders in the SDF-controlled region told Reuters they were ready to take up arms against Kurdish forces if the Syrian army gave the order.

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