Damascus Attacks Syrian Kurds Overseeing ISIS Prison As US Stands By

via The Cradle

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Monday that Damascus has continued to attack its positions across northern Syria despite the US-backed ceasefire reached a day earlier, warning that attacks are targeting the vicinity of SDF-run prisons holding tens of thousands of jailed ISIS militants. 

This poses an “extremely dangerous” security threat, the SDF warned. “Since the early hours of this morning, Al-Shaddadi Prison, which holds thousands of detainees from the terrorist organization ISIS, has been subjected to repeated attacks carried out by factions affiliated with Damascus. Fighters of the SDF confronted these attacks and succeeded in repelling them several times, resulting in the martyrdom of dozens of our fighters and the injury of others, in an effort to prevent a serious security catastrophe,” it said. Unconfirmed reports and videos on social media say that Syrian troops are freeing prisoners from SDF-run detention centers holding ISIS militants.

“Taking up arms is a public duty. It is a national and moral responsibility to protect our people and safeguard the achievements of our revolution, as well as to strengthen the spirit of resistance. We support a political solution, but true peace cannot be achieved without self-defense. If war is imposed on us, or if the existence and rights of our people are targeted, we are fully prepared for legitimate defense,” the statement said. 

Government forces moved into Aleppo’s Tishreen Dam area on Monday as SDF fighters withdrew. The northeastern city of Hasakah remains under Kurdish control. 

A commander in the People’s Protection Units (YPG) – the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) that makes up a significant bulk of the SDF fighting force – has called on Washington to “forcefully intervene” on behalf of the Kurdish militia. 

“Our greatest hope is that there will be a tangible outcome, especially from the coalition and the United States, meaning that they will intervene more forcefully in the existing problems than what they are currently doing,” said YPG commander Sipan Hamo.

“In the current situation and the chaos we are living in, the only ones who can offer guarantees are the United States or the coalition. We believe that the responsibility for everything currently happening inside Syria lies with the western countries, and especially the US,”  he added.

Syrian Government troops tear down a Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) (Kurdish women forces) statue in the NE of #Syria.

This is the end of the autonomous Kurdish led region in Syria, which has existed for a decade. The US withdrew its support from the SDF and Kurds. pic.twitter.com/GvzFitQwp5

— Joshua Landis (@joshua_landis) January 18, 2026

The Syrian army swept across north and east Syria on Sunday, seizing the country’s largest oil fields, which have been under SDF-US army control for years. Syrian troops also moved into the northern cities of Tabqa and Raqqa. The escalation followed recent battles between the two sides in Aleppo and its countryside. 

On Sunday, Syrian state media announced an immediate US-backed ceasefire deal, after Washington called on both sides to quickly resolve the conflict. 

Key points of the ceasefire agreement include the handover of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa governorates, as well as all border crossings, oil fields, and gas fields in the region to the Syrian government. 

It also reiterates demands for the complete integration of all SDF military and security personnel into the structures of the Syrian Ministries of Defense and Interior on an individual basis, rather than as Kurdish-commanded units. 

SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said on Sunday that he agreed to the deal and withdrew from Raqqa and Deir Ezzor to “stop bloodshed” and avoid a civil war. 

SYRIA’S KURDS JUST GOT SOLD OUT, AND THE U.S. WATCHED IT HAPPEN

The SDF signed a deal with Damascus that’s basically a surrender. Oil fields, dams, border crossings, ISIS prisons, their semi-autonomous region… all handed over.

Kurdish fighters don’t even integrate as… pic.twitter.com/XVAfC5EiBx

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 19, 2026

Over the weekend, the US called on Damascus to end its assault on Kurdish-held areas, despite also fully backing the Syrian demand for SDF integration. 

The Syrian government and the SDF signed an agreement in March aimed at integrating the Kurdish group into Damascus’s forces. Both sides have been in disagreement about the deal’s implementation – particularly the SDF’s wish to remain under Kurdish command and enter the army as a bloc rather than dissolve and conscript, as Damascus is demanding.

The Kurdish group has also insisted on a decentralized system that would allow it a degree of autonomy in north and east Syria, as has been the case in recent years. 

Reports of ISIS members in Syria now outside prison facilities and close to the Iraqi border, as per Iraqi sources.

ISIS members in Syria are now outside prison facilities and close to the Iraqi border, as per Iraqi sources.

SDF Statement:

“For the past three days, our forces have been coordinating with the so-called International Coalition to transfer ISIS detainees held at al-Aqatan… pic.twitter.com/Yg3Koynltm

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) January 19, 2026

As a result, clashes have intermittently broken out between government forces and the SDF over the past several months, with both repeatedly accusing each other of obstructing the March agreement.

The SDF was formed by the US-led military coalition in Syria in 2015, and has since helped Washington oversee its occupation of Syrian oil fields. The latest tensions follow a significant reduction in the US military presence in Syria in recent months. Washington has left five of eight major bases in the country.