US Central Command has urged Syrian government forces to “cease any offensive actions” in an area of Syria where Syrian forces have clashed with the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces.
The SDF is a mainly Kurdish force that the US has backed since 2015 in its war against ISIS.
Following the fall of the Assad regime, the US has been working with both the SDF and the new Syrian government.
The US has also carried out several large rounds of strikes on ISIS in recent months.
The US said on Saturday, “We welcome ongoing efforts by all parties in Syria to prevent escalation and pursue resolution through dialogue. We also urge Syrian government forces to cease any offensive actions in areas between Aleppo and al-Tabqa. Aggressively pursuing ISIS and relentlessly applying military pressure requires teamwork among Syrian partners in coordination with US and coalition forces,” US Central Command said.
“A Syria at peace with itself and its neighborhoods is essential to peace and stability across the region.”
The challenge in Syria is that the new Syrian transitional government doesn’t get along with the SDF, whose leader, Mazlum Abdi, met with Syria’s new transitional president in March, flying to Damascus with the support of US Central Command.
He then signed an agreement meant to integrate the SDF into the new Syrian government forces; however, there has been no actual integration, and instead, there have been clashes.
Most of the clashes occurred in Aleppo, where two Kurdish neighborhoods were surrounded by Syrian government forces.
The neighborhoods had their own Kurdish security, who were linked to the SDF.
The inability of the SDF to integrate with Damascus or even make progress on the March agreement has led to Damascus seeking to challenge the SDF in areas where the two have a frontline - mainly along the Euphrates River.
US Central Command seeks de-escalations in Syria
US Central Command has appeared to try to seek to de-escalate tensions. US officials, including envoy Tom Barrack, have also tried to manage the escalating violence. In addition US members of Congress have been more critical of Damascus.
In Dayr Hafir, the SDF agreed to leave the area and pull back several miles toward a town called Tabqa. This is an important area on the Euphrates River near a dam. It was taken by the SDF in 2017 in the fight against ISIS. The US helped the SDF take the site using an air assault. CNN noted at the time, “fighters in Syria have begun a major ground offensive, backed up by US forces, to retake a vital dam near Raqqa, Syria, from ISIS, a US official told CNN Wednesday.”
The report in 2017 said “the attack also included an unprecedented air assault involving US helicopters landing behind enemy lines – flying about 500 local US allies and coalition military advisers across the Euphrates River and Lake Assad so they could attack the ISIS-controlled dam and neighboring town and airfield from the south.”
Now the US appears to be making it clearer that it wants the Syrian government to stop its offensive. However, in the past US Central Command and other parts of the US government have not always been on the exact same page regarding Syria. For instance, US Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack is also the US Ambassador to Turkey. Ankara is close to the new authorities in Damascus and tends to be against the SDF.
As such, US diplomats have not always been as close to the SDF as the Pentagon. The SDF was created with CENTCOM’s support as a force the US could work “by, with and through” to defeat ISIS. However, US diplomats have sometimes portrayed the US-SDF relationships as temporary, transactional, and tactical. Turkey invaded the SDF-held area of Serekaniya in 2019, for instance. This created a crisis.
US Senator Lindsey Graham wrote on X on January 17 that “If there is use of military force by the new Syrian government against Syrian Kurds and the SDF, that would create tremendous instability in Syria and the region and would tell me all I need to know about this new regime. If military action is taken by the Syrian government, I will do everything in my power to revive the Caesar Act sanctions, making them even more bone-crushing.”
The House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority account on X noted “the Kurdish people have long fought for a better future for Syria and have been steadfast American partners. It is time for Syrian President al-Sharaa to follow in their footsteps and work for his country’s future, rather than fighting the Kurdish people.”