After Damascus-SDF deal, Syrian security forces deploy in northeastern Syria

Syrian government forces began deploying to cities in northeastern Syria after an agreement between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the interim government on January 30. Syrian Interior Ministry personnel first entered Al Hasakah on February 2 and moved into Qamishli the next day. Both cities had been under SDF control since 2015. This new deployment took place as US Central Command (CENTCOM) continued conducting airstrikes on the Islamic State in Syria.

Clashes between Damascus and the SDF intensified in January 2025 and resulted in the SDF withdrawing from a large portion of eastern Syria that it had controlled due to its participation in the war against the Islamic State. The SDF has been backed by the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition since 2015 and was a key partner force in taking Raqqa and other areas of the Euphrates River Valley from the jihadist group between 2016 and 2019. The SDF also has a civilian component, the Democratic Administration of North and East Syria, that has administered this portion of the country.

A January 30 agreement between the government and the SDF created a path to end the fighting and to have the Interior Ministry’s security forces deploy to areas the SDF controls. Simultaneously, CENTCOM has continued transferring Islamic State detainees who were previously secured by the SDF from Syria to Iraq. “The deployment coincided with what Rudaw understands is the transfer of a new batch of Islamic State (ISIS) prisoners—previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Rojava—from Syria to Iraq,” the Kurdish Rudaw Media Network noted on February 3.

The Syrian security forces deployed in Al Hasakah, the capital of Al Hasakah Governorate, which contains many Kurdish towns and cities, and then to Qamishli in quick succession. “A Rudaw reporter on the ground in Hasaka said on Monday that 15 convoys, comprising around 100 Damascus-affiliated security forces, had entered the Kurdish city,” Rudaw noted. The entrance of the Ministry of Interior forces is seen as a “first test” of the January agreement, eastern Syria’s North Press Agency said. Photos published by Syrian state media showed a line of light armored vehicles and pick-up trucks as part of the convoy sent to Qamishli on February 3. Other photos showed forces entering towns near Kobane in northern Syria, a city that Damascus refers to by its Arabic name, Ain al Arab.

The movement of Interior Ministry forces in eastern Syria took place as Syrian President Ahmad al Sharaa hosted US Syria Envoy Tom Barrack on February 4. Sharaa also met with a delegation of Kurds from the Kurdish National Council (KNC) on February 4.

The KNC discussed its vision for Kurds in Syria and noted that they “must be a key partner in Syria’s future and that their rights should be enshrined in the constitution,” according to a Rudaw report. “The [Syrian] presidency said in a statement on its Telegram channel that President al-Sharaa reaffirmed the state’s commitment to guaranteeing the rights of Kurdish citizens within the framework of the constitution,” the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) added.

As these changes on the ground took place, US forces continued to carry out operations against the Islamic State. On February 4, CENTCOM said in a post on X that it had “conducted five strikes against multiple ISIS [Islamic State] targets across Syria, Jan. 27 – Feb. 2, as partner forces continue to apply military pressure to ensure the enduring defeat of the terrorist network.” The strikes targeted several sites, including weapons storage facilities.

“Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” US Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said.

Reporting from Israel, Seth J. Frantzman is an adjunct fellow at FDD and a contributor to FDD’s Long War Journal. He is the senior Middle East correspondent and analyst at The Jerusalem Post, and author of The October 7 War: Israel’s Battle for Security in Gaza (2024).