The regime of Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced Sunday evening that it had reached an agreement for an immediate ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a military alliance composed largely of Kurdish fighters.
The announcement comes after several days of intense fighting, during which al-Sharaa’s army advanced into Kurdish-held territory in northeastern Syria. The SDF has not yet responded to the announcement or confirmed the existence of such an agreement.
Syrian army forces under al-Sharaa seize a town in Deir ez-Zor and capture Kurdish forces
According to Syrian state television, which reflects the regime’s position, the agreement stipulates that all SDF forces will be integrated into the country’s state security apparatus under the Defense Ministry. A similar deal was reached last year but ultimately fell apart, leading to renewed tensions that escalated into the current round of fighting. It remains to be seen whether the agreement will be implemented this time.
State media reported that the ceasefire would take effect immediately on all fronts, with SDF units required to withdraw east of the Euphrates River. The deal also grants the Syrian government full military and administrative control over the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor provinces, areas previously held by Kurdish forces.
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Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa with what is said to be the ceasefire agreement with the Kurdish-led SDF
Additionally, the agreement reportedly transfers control of oil and gas fields held by the Kurds to the Syrian government. It also places border crossings in northeastern Syria under Damascus’s authority, with a commitment not to target SDF fighters or members of the Kurdish autonomous administration.
While the SDF has yet to comment, U.S. special envoy to Syria Tom Barrack, representing President Donald Trump, welcomed the development and treated it as a done deal. In a post on X, Barrack wrote: “This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division.”
Crossing the river and capturing Raqqa: al-Sharaa’s army enters former ISIS capital
The Syrian regime’s announcement Sunday evening followed a sharp escalation in fighting between al-Sharaa’s forces and Kurdish-led forces in northeastern Syria, a region that has been under the control of the U.S.-backed SDF for years. The clashes began earlier this month after negotiations collapsed between the Kurdish autonomous administration and al-Sharaa, who seeks to reunify all of Syria under his rule.
On Sunday morning, al-Sharaa’s troops had reportedly seized major oil and gas fields in Deir ez-Zor province, including the Omar oil field—Syria’s largest—and the Conoco gas field. Both strategic sites had previously been held by Kurdish forces, according to three security sources cited by Reuters.
Fighting also broke out in neighboring Raqqa province. Syria’s official news agency SANA, the mouthpiece of the al-Sharaa regime, reported that Kurdish forces had blown up two bridges over the Euphrates River overnight, possibly in an attempt to prevent the Syrian army from advancing north across the river toward the provincial capital, the city of Raqqa. The city, once the de facto capital of the so-called Islamic State, was liberated in 2017 primarily through ground operations by Kurdish fighters, backed by U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.
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Syrian army soldiers tear up a portrait of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan in Tabqa, Raqqa province
(Photo: Bakr ALkasem / AFP)
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Syrian army forces after taking control of Tabqa, Raqqa province
(Photo: Bakr ALkasem / AFP)
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Syrian army forces after taking control of Tabqa, Raqqa province
(Photo: Bakr ALkasem / AFP)
By midday Sunday, just hours after the bridge demolitions were reported, Syrian sources said clashes had erupted inside Raqqa itself, and that al-Sharaa’s forces had already taken control of at least one neighborhood. Syria TV claimed that SDF forces had withdrawn from several parts of the city. Earlier footage purportedly showed al-Sharaa’s troops crossing the Euphrates to its northeastern bank, where Raqqa is located, as part of the ongoing offensive against the Kurdish forces.
Kurds hoped for Israeli support: 'a powerful state with its own agenda”
Senior Kurdish commander Sipan Hamo denied Sunday that the Kurds were receiving assistance from Iran or Russia, but hinted at hopes for Israeli intervention on their behalf. “Of course, we consider Israel a powerful state in the region with its own agenda,” he told Reuters. “We hope that the same stance taken by other countries in the region towards certain minorities in Syria will be extended to the Kurds as well.”
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Syrian regime soldier inspects the bodies of Kurdish fighters in Tabqa, Raqqa province
(Photo: AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
Asked whether he was referring to Israel’s position toward the Druze community last summer, when Israeli airstrikes targeted Syrian troops advancing toward Druze strongholds and near the presidential palace in Damascus, he replied, “Of course.”
By midday, the Syrian army captured the strategic town of Tabqa in Raqqa province, located just south of the Euphrates River and near the city of Raqqa itself. Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mustafa said government forces had also taken control of the Tabqa Dam—the largest in Syria—located roughly 40 kilometers upriver from Raqqa.
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Residents in the city of Maskanah, east of Aleppo, celebrate the arrival of government forces following the Kurdish SDF retreat, Jan. 17
(Photo: Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images)
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Kurdish SDF fighters allegedly captured by Syrian government forces under al-Sharaa in the Deir ez-Zor region
Tabqa holds strategic importance due to its position upstream on the Euphrates, which flows southeast, and it also hosts a military airbase. The town’s population is predominantly Arab, and residents were seen celebrating the arrival of al-Sharaa’s forces.
In scenes likely to heighten fears among Syria’s Kurdish minority, al-Sharaa’s fighters were seen destroying Kurdish symbols following the takeover of Tabqa, including toppling a statue of a female Kurdish fighter.
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Syrian army troops take control of the town of al-Shafa in the Deir ez-Zor countryside following clashes with Kurdish SDF forces
The Syrian government accused Kurdish forces of executing prisoners in the town’s prison before retreating. “The execution of prisoners and detainees, especially civilians, is a crime and a violation of international humanitarian law. This criminal behavior reflects the true nature of the SDF,” the Damascus regime claimed. It also alleged that 64 SDF fighters surrendered after being encircled by the Syrian army in a neighborhood in the town of Mansoura in the Raqqa countryside, and that the SDF had blown up main water pipelines in the area.
Kurds seek to preserve autonomy after watching Druze massacres
Fighting between forces loyal to President al-Sharaa and the Kurdish-led SDF fighters erupted after talks collapsed between the two sides. Al-Sharaa, who came to power in December 2024 following the fall of the Assad regime after 14 years of civil war, is working to unify all of Syria under his control, including vast northeastern areas previously governed by the Kurds.
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Syrian government forces in Tabqa, Raqqa province, Jan. 17.
(Photo: OMAR HAJ KADOUR / AFP)
The Kurds, however, are deeply reluctant to give up the autonomous administration they have established. Their mistrust stems not only from decades of discrimination under the previous regime, but also from deep skepticism about al-Sharaa’s true intentions.
A former al-Qaida member, al-Sharaa now presents himself as a moderate who claims to have renounced jihadist ideology. Yet since taking power, forces aligned with his regime have carried out brutal massacres against Syria’s Alawite and Druze minorities, deepening Kurdish fears about surrendering their hard-won autonomy. An estimated two million Kurds live in Syria.
Over the past year, negotiations between the sides have taken place, and in March of last year they reached what was seen at the time as a dramatic agreement. It called for integrating SDF fighters into the Syrian military and incorporating Kurdish civil institutions into the state bureaucracy. But no significant progress was made toward implementation, and al-Sharaa now appears to be asserting control by force.
Meanwhile, the president has promised to ensure security for the Kurds. Over the weekend, he signed a presidential decree recognizing Kurds as an integral part of Syria and granting official status to the Kurdish language.
The Kurdish autonomous administration called the decree a “first step,” but said it falls short of “the aspirations and hopes of the Kurdish people” and demanded that their rights be enshrined in the constitution.