Syria tightens grip after Kurdish pullback; Daesh prisoners escape

Syrian government troops tightened their grip on Monday across a swathe of northern and eastern territory after it was abruptly abandoned by Kurdish forces in a dramatic shift that has consolidated President Ahmed Al Sharaa’s rule.

A day after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), once the main US ally in Syria, agreed to quit large parts of Syria under a ceasefire, the ‍Syrian army said “a number of” Daesh militants had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi.

The SDF said it had ⁠lost control of the prison following an attack by government ‍fighters. The Syrian army denied attacking the jail and said its forces would work to secure the prison and re-arrest the escapees, accusing the SDF of releasing them. The SDF said Shaddadi prison had held thousands of militants. The army did not say how many IS detainees had fled.

Syria’s army said three soldiers were killed in attacks by Kurdish fighters, while the SDF accused the government of launching attacks despite a ceasefire announced a day earlier. In a statement to state news agency SANA, the army said three soldiers were killed and others wounded in two attacks, without saying where, adding that “some terrorist groups... are attempting to disrupt the implementation” of the ceasefire deal.

The SDF withdrawals mark the biggest change in Syria’s control map since Islamist fighters led by Sharaa toppled president Bashar Al Assad in ‍2024, tilting the power balance Sharaa’s way after months of deadlock in talks with the SDF over government demands its forces merge fully with Damascus. After days of fighting with government forces, the SDF agreed ‍on Sunday to withdraw from both Raqqa and Deir Al Zor - two Arab-majority provinces they had controlled for years and the location of Syria’s main oil fields.

Turkey, which has repeatedly sent forces into northern Syria to curb Kurdish power since 2016, welcomed the deal signed by its ally Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the Syrian army for its “careful” offensive to take over Kurdish-held areas of the country’s northeast despite what he called “provocations.”

“The Syrian army’s careful management of this sensitive operation ... is commendable. Despite provocations, the Syrian army has passed a successful test, avoiding actions that would put them in the wrong when they are in the right,” he said.

Erdogan also urged the swift implementation of the agreement that requires the full integration of Kurdish fighters into Syria’s armed forces.

The SDF, spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG militia, had established control of a quarter or more of Syria during the 2011-2024 civil war, whilst fighting with the support of US troops against Daesh. The United States, which has since established close ties with Sharaa under President Donald Trump, has been closely ‌involved in mediation between the sides.

The SDF media office said in a statement that the prison at Shaddadi - one of three under its control in the ‍Hasakah region - had come under repeated attack by “Damascus factions,” and that dozens of SDF fighters were killed or wounded defending it.

The statement added that the US-led coalition against Islamic State had not intervened despite repeated appeals to a nearby coalition base. The US military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

In its denial of the SDF account, the Syrian Ministry of Defence ​said army forces had bypassed Shaddadi, in line with deployment plans, and offered aid to SDF forces inside.

The Ministry also denied an SDF account of clashes between government and SDF forces near a jail in Raqqa, which the SDF said was holding IS inmates. It said the army had arrived “at the vicinity of al-Aqtan prison ... and began securing it and its surroundings despite the presence of SDF forces inside”.

The SDF ​said nine of its ‍fighters were killed and 20 wounded in clashes around al-Aqtan.

Hasakah province, which largely remains under SDF control, is home to the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, the main prisons holding Islamic State ‌detainees, and a camp holding thousands of IS-linked prisoners.

Agencies