All posts tagged: Syrias

Syria’s government gives Kurds more time to reach an agreement

Syria’s government gives Kurds more time to reach an agreement

Published by Sam Flores

Orange detainee uniforms lay abandoned inside the walls of Al-Kam Al-Sini prison, on the outskirts of Al-Chaddadeh in northeastern Syria. With the doors wide open, the cells bore witness to the deprivation dozens of prisoners had suffered until the predominantly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew on Monday, January 19. A few mattresses on the ground, gray blankets and a dish of kibbeh being prepared. A Syrian army soldier in a cell at Al-Kam Al-Sini prison, on the outskirts of Al-Chaddadeh (Syria), January 20, 2026. PHILÉMON BARBIER/HORS FORMAT FOR LE MONDE Government forces and the SDF blamed each other for the prisoners’ escape during the clashes between them. “When our forces arrived, the prisoners had already been released. The SDF opened the cell doors before leaving. They destroyed the surveillance cameras and took the hard drives with them,” said a soldier from the 44th Division of the Syrian army. Padlocks lay scattered on the ground. According to the Syrian Interior Ministry, 120 prisoners escaped from the prison, 81 of whom were recaptured. An American official, …

Syrian army clashes with SDF test ceasefire, ISIL fighters arrested | Syria’s War News

Syrian army clashes with SDF test ceasefire, ISIL fighters arrested | Syria’s War News

Published by Sam Flores

Syria’s Interior Ministry says 81 of some 120 ISIL detainees who had escaped from a prison have been recaptured. Published On 19 Jan 202619 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The Syrian army has announced a curfew in the city of al-Shaddadi in the country’s northeast after the escape of ISIL (ISIS) fighters from the city’s prison amid clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), according to the state news agency, SANA. The clashes on Monday came the day after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, also known as Mazloum Kobani, reached a ceasefire deal. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list Despite uncertainty about the ceasefire, al-Sharaa and United States President Donald Trump on Monday spoke about the “need to guarantee the Kurdish people’s rights and protection within the framework of the Syrian state”, the Syrian presidency said in a statement. The two leaders also “affirmed the importance of preserving the unity and independence of Syrian territory” and how to continue fighting ISIL, the …

Power lines and power struggles: Unpacking Syria’s push towards unification | Syria’s War News

Power lines and power struggles: Unpacking Syria’s push towards unification | Syria’s War News

Published by Sam Flores

Deir Az Zor, Syria – On the broad, windswept plains through which the Euphrates River snakes, the land remembers every war that has passed across it. The oil-rich soil of al-Omar, the turbines of the Tabqa Dam and the cautious return of families to towns long abandoned tell a story as old as Syria itself: one of power, survival and the struggle to unify a fractured country. Over the weekend, Syrian government forces seized the al-Omar oilfield, the Conoco gas complex – both in Deir Az Zor governorate – and the Tabqa Dam, in Raqqa governorate. The operation was heralded as a military achievement, but its significance reaches far beyond maps and military lines. It touches the very structure of Syria’s political economy, the social contract between state and citizen and the fragile architecture of agreements meant to reconcile formerly hostile actors. And the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which previously controlled the areas as well as all of northeastern Syria, soon realised the situation they faced. By Sunday evening, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced …

Will the Syrian army end up controlling Kurdish-held areas? | Syria’s War

Will the Syrian army end up controlling Kurdish-held areas? | Syria’s War

Published by Sam Flores

The army has made significant territorial gains after intense battles with the SDF. It all started in Aleppo, and now the fighting has expanded to the northeastern parts of Syria. The army says it has made major advances there, seizing areas previously under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list This rapid sequence of events paves the way for the government to tighten its grip on this strategic and oil-rich region. Many rounds of talks and agreements between Damascus and the SDF leadership over the last year have yielded no results. That is despite involvement from the US in efforts to bring the two sides to common ground. How will this play out within Syria and the wider region? Presenter: James Bays Guests: Omar Abu Layla – Syrian Affairs analyst Scott Lucas – Professor of US and international politics at University College Dublin Kamaran Palani – Kurdish principal investigator for the PeaceRep Iraq programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science Published On …

Syria’s government says it has struck ceasefire deal with Kurdish-led forces

Syria’s government says it has struck ceasefire deal with Kurdish-led forces

Published by Sam Flores

The ‍Syrian government and the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed on an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire ​on all fronts on Sunday after days of fighting as ​the army advanced into Kurdish-held territories in the northeast. Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi said he agreed to the deal to avoid a broader war. He made the decision after deadly clashes in the Syrian city of Raqa Sunday between Kurdish-led forces and local fighters loyal to Damascus, and fighting this month between the Kurds and government forces. The agreement will also see the Kurdish administration and forces integrate into the state after months of stalled negotiations on the issue. But it marks a blow for the minority, which has long held ambitions of preserving the de facto autonomy they had exercised over areas they held for over a decade. Sharaa announced the agreement to reporters on Sunday. He said had had been scheduled to meet Abdi, who heads the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but that it had been postponed until Monday due to poor weather. “In …

Syrian army announces full control of Deir Hafer after SDF withdrawal | Syria’s War News

Syrian army announces full control of Deir Hafer after SDF withdrawal | Syria’s War News

Published by Sam Flores

The Syrian army is moving to take control of areas previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the governorate of Aleppo. The forces on Saturday entered Deir Hafer, located some 50km (30 miles) east of the city of Aleppo, after the SDF announced it would start withdrawing from their strongholds in the city in the early hours of the day. The army later said its forces had taken full control of the city and were working to clear it of mines and other war remnants, according to state media. It added that it had begun moving towards Maskana town. The announcement came after the army on Friday launched an operation against the SDF in Deir Hafer, saying it would focus on areas that the group’s forces were using “as a launching point for their terrorist operations towards the city of Aleppo and its eastern countryside”. SDF leader Mazloum Abdi, also known as Mazloum Kobani, said in response that his forces would withdraw to the east of the Euphrates River. In a post …

Aleppo school picks up the pieces after SDF fight with Syria’s army | Syria’s War News

Aleppo school picks up the pieces after SDF fight with Syria’s army | Syria’s War News

Published by Sam Flores

Civilians cautiously return to Aleppo neighborhoods after the Syrian army secures areas hit by the conflict with SDF. Aleppo, Syria – Spent bullet shell casings litter the classrooms and corridors of Qassem Amin school in Aleppo’s Ashrafieh neighbourhood. Desks barricade the stairwells; glass from shattered windows crunches underfoot. The school’s playground turned into a battleground last week, as it sat on the front line of fierce fighting between fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian government forces. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list SDF snipers had commandeered the top floor of the school five months earlier, while classes continued below, school staff explained. “It was very wrong,” said the school’s head teacher, Ouafa Zein al-Dein, “especially for the children”. “We never interacted with them, never even spoke to them,” Zein al-Dein said of the SDF fighters. “I never let anyone near them.” On January 6, the day fighting started, the school’s pupils had just sat down for exams. They never finished them. When Zein al-Dein heard the first explosions, she …

Syria’s Kurdish fighters to leave Aleppo after deadly clashes

Syria’s Kurdish fighters to leave Aleppo after deadly clashes

Published by Sam Flores

Syria’s Kurdish fighters said Sunday that they agreed under a ceasefire to withdraw from Aleppo after days of fighting government forces in the city. Hours earlier, Syria’s military said it had finished operations in the Kurdish-held Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood with state television reporting that Kurdish fighters who surrendered were being bused to the north. Keywords for this article Source link