Syria’s military has seized swathes of Kurdish-held territory. Here’s what we know

By Eyad Kourdi and Tim Lister, CNN

(CNN) — In the space of two days, the Syrian military, aided by tribal militia, has driven Kurdish forces from wide swathes of northern Syria that they have held for more than a decade.

Among the towns and cities reported to have fallen is Raqqa, once the notorious capital of the Islamic State’s (ISIS) so-called Caliphate. Geolocated video showed tribal militia in the heart of the city Sunday, and a military presence in other neighborhoods.

Much of Syria’s oil wealth is also now under the control of the government for the first time in more than a decade.

After the territorial gains, Syria’s president said Sunday that an agreement had been reached with the mainly Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to end the fighting in the northeast of the country. The SDF itself has not commented on the reported agreement.

Here’s what we know.

What led to this confrontation?

The sudden push into Kurdish-controlled areas came after clashes earlier this month in the city of Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, the latest episodes in a tense stand-off between the central government and the SDF.

The SDF is a US-backed group that was not part of the rebel alliance that overthrew Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad in 2024.

On Friday, the SDF agreed to withdraw from the Aleppo area to the east bank of the Euphrates river, the first territorial concession it had made to the new government.

But beginning on Saturday, the Syrian military pushed into areas not covered by the agreement, and Kurdish forces appear to have retreated in disarray.

The Syrian military’s advance into several regions has deprived the SDF of control over both mineral wealth and rich agricultural land.

What have Syrian forces seized?

The army and allied tribes have taken much of the provinces of Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor, which borders Iraq, and Arab militia have also made inroads into Kurdish-held Hasakah province.

In the process, troops have taken control of two hydroelectric dams on the Euphrates, according to the Syrian Energy Ministry. The larger of them provides much of the country’s drinking water and, once renovated, could provide some 900 megawatts of electricity.

The Syrian military has also taken control of oil and gas fields in Deir Ezzor province, including the largest, called al-Omar, as well as al-Tanak and Conoco fields, according to officials.

The agreement released by the Syrian presidency on Sunday said the government would assume immediate control of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor and also take control of all oil and gas fields and international borders.

Civilian institutions in Hasakah, which borders Turkey, would be integrated into the Syrian state, the document said.

SDF personnel would be integrated into the Syrian military and security forces on an individual basis, the document added. The SDF, which has not yet commented on Sunday’s agreement, had been insisting on having Kurdish units within the military.

Why did earlier negotiations fail?

For years, the SDF has controlled many areas largely populated by Arab tribes, many of which have now joined the fight against them. The SDF’s area of control had expanded as it worked with a US-led coalition in the struggle against ISIS, when the terror group controlled much of northeastern Syria.

When the Assad regime was overthrown, the government of interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa rejected the notion of a federal Syria, demanding that Damascus’ writ run throughout the country.

There were many sessions of negotiations between the government and Mazloum Abdi, the SDF’s leader. And for a while it seemed agreement might be reached on integrating Kurdish fighters into the Syrian security forces and extending the Damascus government’s political control to territory in the north and east of Syria.

In March last year, al-Sharaa and Abdi signed an agreement which the Syrian president said aimed to “ensure the rights of all Syrians in representation and participation in the political process and all state institutions based on competence, regardless of their religious and ethnic backgrounds.”

But the Kurds remained reluctant to give up areas they controlled, and there was no agreement on integrating Kurdish forces into the national army.

Damascus promised the Kurds extensive cultural autonomy such as the use of the Kurdish language in schools. Indeed, on Friday, al-Sharaa signed a decree promising Kurds cultural and language rights and bestowing Syrian citizenship on thousands who had been deprived of Syrian nationality for decades.

The SDF’s leadership said the concessions did not go far enough.

At the same time, many Arabs living in Kurdish-held parts of Syria were losing patience.

In the town of al-Tabqa, which was taken by government forces on Saturday according to multiple videos and witness accounts, resident Mohamed Khalousi told Reuters that the population had waited for the arrival of the army to “get rid of this (Kurdish) gang that all people were complaining and tired of.”

Al-Sharaa said Sunday that bad weather had prevented a meeting with Abdi, but insisted that all outstanding issues with the SDF would be resolved.

“We advise our Arab tribes to remain calm and allow room for the agreement’s provisions to be implemented,” al-Sharaa said. Arab militia have joined the military in clashes with the SDF since Saturday.

What’s happening in Raqqa?

Local activists said there were clashes Sunday in the nearby city of Raqqa, which was held for several years by ISIS until it was ousted from the area in 2017. The city saw some of the terror group’s worst atrocities.

Geolocated video showed explosions and snipers on rooftops in the city, as well as tribal militia celebrating on the streets.

A largely Kurdish administration had run the city since its liberation from ISIS.

Ahmad al-Haj Mulla, a resident of Raqqa, told CNN earlier Sunday that he had joined in the fighting against the SDF. “The SDF has snipers on many buildings and stationed heavily in the northern side of the city, but we are dealing with them,” he told CNN in a phone conversation.

“Anyone who objects to the (SDF’s) autonomous administration ends up in jail,” Mulla alleged. “They should never have been here in the first place.”

Syrian state television reported that residents of Raqqa “are rising up against the SDF amid a mass defection of city residents,” and said the group’s fighters had been driven out of the city.

“Raqqa’s community figures will hand the city over in full to the Syrian government to administer it and to safeguard its institutions, security, and stability,” it reported.

Will this affect the fight against ISIS?

The United States had expressed concern that the upheaval would hurt the allied effort against ISIS remnants in rural parts of Syria.

On Saturday, the commander of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, urged the Syrian government “to cease any offensive actions between Aleppo and al-Tabqa” to ensure a common front against ISIS.

CENTCOM said Saturday that in its latest strike against extremists in Syria, it had killed an al Qaeda operative with direct ties to an ISIS attacker who killed three Americans in early December.

It’s unclear whether Kurdish security forces are still guarding the largest detention camp holding relatives of ISIS fighters, at al-Hol, near the Iraqi border. But geolocated video shows that Arab militia have taken over the town of Shaddadi, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) to the south.

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack, who visited Damascus for talks with al-Sharaa on Sunday, subsequently commended the ceasefire agreement released by the presidency as “paving the way for renewed dialogue and cooperation toward a unified Syria,” in a post on X.

He promised the US would “firmly” stand behind the integration process, “as we safeguard our vital national security interests in defeating ISIS remnants.”

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