US-backed SDF ‘withdraws from parts of eastern Syria’

Pullout marks the first major change in lines of control over the strategic area in a month

Fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces celebrate victory and liberation of Raqqa. Reuters

The Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have withdrawn from several parts of eastern Syria, sources in the area said on Tuesday, as they come under military pressure from forces allied with authorities in Damascus and Turkey.

In the past 24 hours, SDF fighters have withdrawn from four Euphrates River towns in the Raqqa and Deir Ezzor governorates, a group official told The National. The aim, he said, is to support defensive lines in majority Kurdish areas further east, as well as around the strategic Tishreen dam in the north.

“The situation on the ground is changing every minute. The Turks are escalating, so the SDF is focusing on preserving the Kurdish areas, and preventing a breakthrough at Tishreen,” the official said.

Hayat Tahrir Al Sham forces have replaced the SDF in the four towns: Maadan, Thiban, Basira, and Zir, according to the official.

A Telegram group linked to the HTS said anti-SDF fighters had entered the four areas and showed purported videos of the towns after their capture.

Fighting has intensified in the east since the fall of the regime of former president Bashar Al Assad last month. HTS has taken over the seat of power in Damascus, but large parts of the east remain under the SDF's control, an amalgamation of mostly Kurdish militias created by Washington in 2015.

A stalemate has prevailed around the Tishrin Dam since Turkish proxies, supported by Turkish drones, mounted an attack two weeks ago.

The officials said the SDF has been enforcing areas east of the Euphrates to make it difficult to reach the north-eastern regions of Hasakah and Qamishli. The two areas have a larger concentration of Kurds than the rest of the east.

Before the 2011 revolt against the Assad regime and the ensuing refugee flows out of the country, Kurds comprised about 10 per cent of Syria's 22 million population.

The SDF and its forerunners were aligned with Mr Al Assad during the civil war and maintained channels of communication with Iran and Russia.

These Kurdish groups, which later became the SDF, helped the Assad regime crush a peaceful protest movement in 2011, and later capture rebel-held eastern parts of Aleppo city along with other areas.

Their remaining ally since the government was overthrown has been the US. The SDF has been the ground component in the US's fight against ISIS in Syria.

However, US-backed Kurdish territorial acquisitions have contributed to ethnic violence with Arabs, who comprise the overwhelming majority of the population of the country.

At least several hundred people were killed in the east since the fall of the Assad regime. The death toll was made up of SDF and anti-SDF fighters as well civilians killed in a crackdown last month by the SDF on an Arab uprising in the area.

The uprising coincided with an HTS advance into parts of Deir Ezzor governorate that were held by the SDF, but the clashes between the two sides have since seized as they engaged in talks.

The tribal area, especially in the Euphrates Valley, is the source of most of Syria's oil and gas. Output was 200,000 barrels a day before 2011 but has fallen by 75 per cent since. The area also contains the bulk of the US military presence in Syria.

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said this week that he had met with Mr Ahmed Al Shara, the head of HTS and the country's new de facto leader. Both sides have indicated that the integration of the SDF into a new unified Syrian military has been a major point of contention. The SDF wants to remain independent while the new military chiefs in Damascus want all groups to integrate into Syria's security framework.