US Ally in Syria Issues Warning as Violence Stalls Trump-Backed Deal

Newsweek

5 days ago

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A top representative of the United States' closest ally in Syria has shared with Newsweek an appeal for a major change in course on the part of the country's new government as yet another round of deadly clashes involving minority factions further undermined hopes for unity.
The bloodshed, which reportedly saw more than 1,000 killed among Druze militias, Sunni Muslim Bedouin tribal fighters, Syrian state security forces and civilians, including a U.S. citizen, over eight days in the Al-Sweida region, is the latest sectarian violence to rock the war-torn nation following the collapse of more than half a century of Baathist rule in December.
Druze leadership and the Syrian transitional government, led by former Islamist militant leader Ahmad al-Sharaa, have accused one another of wrongdoing throughout the latest round of fighting and previous clashes.
For President Donald Trump's administration, it marked a new setback in the effort to align Damascus and the United States' decade-long partner in Syria, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which leads a self-governing territory in the northeast.
The SDF has condemned the government's actions in Al-Sweida and on the west coast, where militias tied to the government were accused in March of targeting another minority sect, the Alawites.
"What happened in the coast and in Sweida makes Damascus untrustworthy among all segments of society," Sinam Mohamad, a representative of the SDF's political wing, the Syrian Democratic Council, in Washington, D.C., told Newsweek.
"A truly impartial investigation committee must be formed to uncover and document these violations and identify those involved to hold them accountable," she said. "This will be the first and most important step for Damascus towards establishing trust."
Newsweek reached out to the Syrian Information Ministry and U.S. Central Command for comment.
A member of Syrian Democratic Forces (L) and a member of the Syrian Transitional Government's Public Security Forces at the location of a prisoner exchange between the two sides in Aleppo, Syria, on April 3,...
A member of Syrian Democratic Forces (L) and a member of the Syrian Transitional Government's Public Security Forces at the location of a prisoner exchange between the two sides in Aleppo, Syria, on April 3, 2025. More
MOHAMAD DABOUL/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images
A Multi-Sided War
Since 2015, the SDF has served on the front lines of the U.S. war against the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), over which Trump declared victory during his first administration in 2019. U.S. troops remain deployed to the northeast under the official mission of combating the remnants of ISIS.
Before aiding the SDF, the U.S. had backed predominantly Arab rebel forces that first rose against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011, sparking a civil war. The SDF would go on to clash with a number of these same groups, some of which are now predominantly backed by Turkey.
Syrian opposition forces scored their biggest victory in December when they managed to oust Assad in an 11-day lightning offensive, followed by Sharaa assuming the presidency. The dramatic turn of events quickly sparked tensions between the new government and the SDF, which was forced to withdraw from several areas amid clashes.
The U.S. has since maintained its partnership with the SDF but also played a key role in securing a deal in March that would see the SDF-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria integrate into the new central government, thus avoiding a new all-out conflict.
Yet instances of minorities being targeted elsewhere in the country have raised new questions over Sharaa's control over the array of insurgents who helped bring him to power, even as the new Syrian leader repeatedly vowed to hold all perpetrators accountable.
"The army's job is to protect the homeland and its citizens, not the other way around," Mohamad said. "These scattered and recurring incidents here and there make us take a step back...They make us say that Damascus does not have that kind of control over the army, for example...or that it cannot control those unruly elements."
Syrian Democratic Forces command Mazloum Abdi (L) and Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa (R) sign a deal in Damascus, on March 10, 2025.
Syrian Democratic Forces command Mazloum Abdi (L) and Syrian Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa (R) sign a deal in Damascus, on March 10, 2025.
Syrian Arab News Agency/AP
False Starts
The SDF has engaged in negotiations to integrate with Damascus on several occasions throughout its 10-year existence.
While Kurdish factions remained largely neutral in the civil war between Assad and rebels, alternatively fighting with one side or the other at various times, the Iran- and Russia-backed Syrian ruler's comeback from defeats in the earlier stages of the war paved the way for potential partnerships.
Each time, however, talks unraveled, and Assad remained under U.S. sanctions, accused of war crimes and considered a pariah by the West.
These sanctions were lifted late last month by the Trump administration "in support of the Syrian people and their new government as they rebuild their country and have the opportunity to become a stable and prosperous nation at peace with itself and its neighbors."
The move followed Trump's meeting with Sharaa in Saudi Arabia in May, after which the U.S. leader offered praise for his Syrian counterpart. But just as Sharaa's commitments to building an inclusive future for his country have been challenged by sectarian violence involving Alawites and Druze, disagreements over the U.S.-backed deal have left few signs of progress in the Damascus-SDF integration process.
Israel's intervention, which has included strikes against government sites in Damascus, under the pretext of protecting minority groups, has also added to pressure against the government.
"No one wants to see their capital bombed by external forces," Mohamad said. "Therefore, Damascus must realize that Syria cannot be returned to the pre-2011 state. It wants to completely dissolve the SDF and integrate it into the Syrian army. This is not possible in this way."
"Trust must exist first and foremost, and rights must be guaranteed within political participation and a comprehensive constitution," she added. "Such a process, within the conditions we discussed previously, require time, as it will proceed according to agreed-upon steps."
At the same time, Damascus has consistently defended its position and warned against delaying the process for too long.
"Delaying the implementation of this agreement will prolong the chaos, open the door to foreign interference and fuel separatism," Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shaibani said during a joint press conference alongside his counterparts from Jordan and Turkey in May, according to the Al-Quds Al-Araby outlet.
Syrian government security forces stand atop an earth barrier created as a buffer between Druze and Bedouin militias during their deployment in Busra al-Harir in Syria's southern Daraa province on July 21, 2025.
Syrian government security forces stand atop an earth barrier created as a buffer between Druze and Bedouin militias during their deployment in Busra al-Harir in Syria's southern Daraa province on July 21, 2025.
OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP/Getty Images
Pressure Builds
Damascus is not the only actor that would like to see a swift implementation of the agreement. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has emerged as Sharaa's closest international partner over the past seven months and a key factor in Trump's embrace of the Syrian leader, has directly accused the SDF of "stalling."
More recently, on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan went as far as to threaten direct intervention against any other groups seeking to take advantage of sectarian strife to pursue separatist aims.
"If you go beyond that and use violence to divide and destabilize, we will perceive it as a direct threat to our national security and intervene," Fidan said, as reported by ABC News.
The Turkish top diplomat went on to warn that "trying to extract autonomy or independence from chaos built on blood and created with someone else's help is a perspective that leads nowhere," emphasizing that "now is the time for integration" and "for everyone to hold onto life while preserving their identity and beliefs."
Turkey views the SDF and affiliated groups, such as the People's Protection Units (YPG), as direct wings of the separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey has conducted several cross-border operations along with numerous strikes against SDF positions under the pretext of combating the PKK, which both Ankara and Washington view as a foreign terrorist organization.
In May, the PKK announced it was disarming after reaching a peace deal in the group's decades-long conflict with Turkey. Yet Turkish officials have remained cautious about remnants of the group attempting to continue the struggle on behalf of the PKK.
In a rare instance of Washington officials also tying the U.S.-supported SDF to the U.S.-blacklisted PKK, Thomas Barrack, who serves as Trump's ambassador to Turkey and special envoy to Syria, told reporters last week that "SDF is YPG, YPG is a derivative of PKK."
The U.S. envoy acknowledged that "YPG was a spinoff of PKK that we allied with to fight ISIS," and also appeared to temper sympathies for the SDF's cause in Washington, including among members of Congress.
"There's no question—especially Congress has a very soft spot in their heart for SDF, and it's been very clear that we want to pave and provide an onramp for them to join what? The Syrian Government," Barrack said. "There's not an indication that there's going to be a free Kurdistan."
"There's not an indication that there's going to be a separate SDF state," he added. "There's not an indication on our part that there's going to be a separate Alawite state or a separate Druze state. There's Syria."
Mohamad, for her part, argued that the SDF was also rallying behind Syrian unity. However, she advocated for a new style of government that would afford more distance from the state for various communities.
"We support the unity of Syrian territory and the unity of the people as well. We do not equivocate on this issue," Mohamad said. "We share the autonomous areas of administration with our Arab brothers who live with us, as well as the Syriacs, Assyrians, Armenians, and others. We are not alone in this matter. Everyone has concerns, and this is natural."
"Whatever the name of the country's political system, it must preserve privacy for everyone," she added. "It doesn't matter what name we call it, federalism, autonomy, or decentralization. What matters is ensuring that privacy. When we feel safe, we won't need those massive armies. In any case, it is part of the Syrian state army."
A Syrian Democratic Forces member watches as U.S. forces assigned to the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment patrol with M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles in an undisclosed location, on April 14, 2025.
A Syrian Democratic Forces member watches as U.S. forces assigned to the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment patrol with M2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles in an undisclosed location, on April 14, 2025.
Master Sergeant Ray Boyington/Combined Joint Task Force - Operation Inherent Resolve/U.S. Army
Questions over U.S. Presence
As Washington steadily recalibrates its policies, questions continue to surround the future of the U.S. military presence in Syria, a nation in which Trump once said the U.S. should have no involvement in the immediate aftermath of Assad's ouster.
The Pentagon revealed around this time that there were approximately 2,000 U.S. troops there, an increase from the previously reported figure of 900. U.S. troops in Syria are deployed both alongside the SDF in the northeast as well as alongside the Syrian Free Army rebel group in the southeast desert garrison of Al-Tanf.
Trump had previously voiced intentions to withdraw all troops from Syria during his first administration, and, months after he took office a second time, the Pentagon announced in April that it would begin reducing the U.S. military footprint in the country by more than half.
Mohamad, however, downplayed the prospect of any concerns among the SDF in response to the U.S. drawdown.
"We have no fear of reducing the number of forces," Mohamad said, "as coordination is ongoing, and we have a professional military force trained for these tasks."
She maintained that "the international coalition is present in the areas of autonomous administration, and we are working together on issues related to combating terrorism and stability in the region as well."
"We are taking the path of dialogue that establishes a democratic system and consolidates justice and law for all, while they view the matter as a central government with a single vision," Mohamad said. "If the Syrian-Syrian dialogue carries national goals, it will not need guarantees."
"However, the discussions are now being conducted through American mediation, so it directly becomes a guarantor of any agreement," she added.
Such a deal, she said, would include "agreeing on a constitution that guarantees all citizenship rights and the privacy of the communities living on the homeland."
"We are completely open to a serious national dialogue that stops the bloodshed and unites the country," Mohamad said. "I believe this is also Damascus's intention, but the approach is different."