Territorial gains in northeast Syria, where government forces took the cities of Raqqa and Deir Az Zor from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), have been a boon to Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa.Negotiations with the SDF have been ongoing since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024 over the main Kurdish representative in Syria’s integration into the Syrian armed forces. Al-Sharaa has used varying tactics against the group, recently announcing a decree for Kurdish rights while also confronting the group militarily.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe SDF’s loss is al-Sharaa and his government’s gain. But the most significant sign of Syria’s improved standing may come from the fact that US officials, who have long backed the SDF as a partner in fighting ISIL (ISIS), have given their backing to al-Sharaa and Syrian forces after these latest developments.Ceasefire and agreementsThese recent advancements by the Syrian government have stripped away much of the SDF’s leverage.“This was about [the Syrian government forces] taking control of the most resource-rich parts of SDF territory that had the demographically highest number of Arabs, so they managed to play this very well by having a limited offensive but, at the same time, getting the tribal networks to rise up against SDF rule; and once they did that, it was basically game over for the SDF,” Rob Geist Pinfold, a lecturer at King’s College London, told Al Jazeera.When the Assad regime fell in December 2024, the SDF was hesitant to throw its hat into the ring …
