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The United States abandoned the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) because the Kurdish-led group refused a request to fight the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Iraq, Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), revealed on January 20.
The SDF was founded more than ten years ago with direct support from the U.S. in order to battle ISIS in Syria, specifically in the northeastern part of the country.
The PMF was formed by Iran-aligned armed factions in Iraq at around the same time, also to fight the terrorist group, and was later recognized by the government.
The U.S., which has been pressuring the Iraqi government to disarm PMF factions, recently stood on the side as the Islamist-led Syrian government launched a large-scale offensive against its Kurdish allies. Within a few days, the group lost most of its territories in the northeast of the country.
The recent remarks by the director of SOHR, which were made during an interview with Kurdistan 24, explains why Washington abandoned the Kurdish-led group in Syria.
Abdulrahman said that the SDF rejected the U.S. request to fight the PMF, emphasizing that its mission is limited to protecting its areas within Syria.
He noted that “it seems that Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said, ‘we are fighting the Popular Mobilization Forces,’ so the SDF withdrew from Deir Ezzor and handed the area over to al-Sharaa and his forces.”
Abdulrahman also warned the Iraqi government to secure its borders for fear of ISIS members infiltrating Iraq. He pointed out that the U.S. withdrew its support for the SDF within a short period, which contributed to the exacerbation of security threats and the rise of terrorist groups in the areas where they are deployed
While advancing in northeastern Syria, specifically in Deir Ezzor and al-Hasakah, government troops and allied Arab tribesmen freed many ISIS detainees.
Abdulrahman’s remarks were not surprising. Commenting on a four-day ceasefire announced by the Syrian government on January 20, U.S. envoy Tom Barrack voiced his support for Sharaa, and declared that the purpose of the SDF had “expired.”
“Today, the situation has fundamentally changed. Syria now has an acknowledged central government that has joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS (as its 90th member in late 2025), signaling a westward pivot and cooperation with the US on counterterrorism. This shifts the rationale for the US-SDF partnership: the original purpose of the SDF as the primary anti-ISIS force on the ground has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities, including control of ISIS detention facilities and camps,” he said in a lengthy post on X.
The Iraqi military, security forces, and the PMF, in addition to the forces of the autonomous region of Kurdistan, deployed massive reinforcements along the border with Syria as the attack on the SDF there began to gain momentum in the last few days.
Iraqi Interior Minister Abdul Amir Al-Shammari warned on January 19 that his country’s forces will open fire at any member of ISIS in Syria who approaches the border.
And on January 21, Iraqi caretaker Prime Minister Mohammad Al-Sudani visited the border and inspected the forces deployed there.
The ceasefire in northeastern Syria is fragile and an understanding to merge the SDF into the government does not appear to be moving forward. The battle there will likely resume soon, and the Kurds could end up getting defeated.
Amid these developments, the U.S. is reported to be preparing to attack Iran. Washington may be in a hurry for government forces to take over all of northeastern Syria because of this. The threat coming from Syria, whether it is by the government or ISIS, will prevent Iran-aligned factions there from intervening in any conflict.
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in the great fog that is syria, this article makes sense. the zio pirates are arranging forces to attack. one of the us carriers may be in range as soon as friday, this suggests military assets are arranged and deployed. is this what the us media terms “full spectrum asymmetrical warfare or dominance” mean ?
it seems the path to human extinction is widening.
god works in mysterious ways
i am the beginning and the end ,the alpha and the omega .
and the world is corrupted ,”and in the end times the stench of corruption shall reach all the way to heaven ” it does .it stinks absolutely everywhere ..
no, its narrowing, as more you loose trust in the state.
the turds are f*d.
the blood is on maericas hands and juices as they are the ones who toppled assad
such a stupid person with so many stupid names.
that’s a bullshit article. america abandons everyone after some time. they abandoned afghans against taliban. and they will abandon kurds after they bring chaos in iran. american’s word is useless. no western media reports about the atrocities against kurds. but kurds never learn: this time is the second time after sinjar.
its very simple, they destroy everything they come in contact with. they financed adolf hitler rothschild, occupied europe, imported the nazis, and started to destroy the world, by trick movies, and fake pandemic. blowing up the atlantic cables should be the minimum prevention against the plague.
and then i have recently see a good episode from paramount tactical, that tells that censur is always bad 😂 oh, yae ? how then did a gigantic genocide become the example for democracy ? this technology is evil, in many ways.
they did not finance adolf hitler at all .that’s a lie .paris led to democracy ,not auschwitz .paris ended the 1000 years reign of the bourbons and took down the number one empire of the day .then russia followed and both from the same city as dickens tells in his tale of two cities ,if you’d ever read a book in primary school .
the problem are, that you have read a book in “primary school”. was newtons laws valid in north america in that book ?😂
“how bush’s grandfather helped hitler’s rise to power” the guardian. you can use google ? of course, they still lie about newtons laws 😂
your naive and brainwashed through ignorance .imo .another sucker like the germans who allegedly voted for hitler . which i don’t believe anymore than zelenskiez election allegedly
it does not matter what you believe 😂
so us /israel want syria tupid force fight iraqi goverment force and us attack iran at same time . us is using syrian terrorist to divert iraqi faction not to help iran in atttacking us base . but here one thing us and this thug ahmed al shara forgeting . 10 missile in syria damascuss will wipe sharaa butt out completly even if he is hiding. iraqi force should invade syria near damuscuss to divert us attention. and help druze to attack sharaa force. simple
grow up this is all still the same war they used bonaparte for the try to conquer russia .from the city ..be cause nicky and alice were both victoria’s grand children.
grow up 😂 “americans” (mentally, at least) can not open their mouth, without projection.
ordinary americunt behavior—never trust americunts–a sleazy inferior species
sleazy suits you as does ordinarycunt .
just like the “land of the freak. h0me of the $lave” did in chechnya and yugoslavia in the 90s… iraq, afghanistan, libya, syria, yemen and ukraine after 2001!… need we say more why the absent investigation by the unsc could have stopped all (or most if it) with the truth of who performed that pretext hung around the necks of the u$ual $uspects when the commission report came 4 years late?…
totally different administration. and they were about oil for the big oil barons in texas and europe .they are t jews .they’re moslem and christian allegedly .the jews don’t own oil .or countries .or mining .
the turds got flushed again!
heheheh
because they never learn “never trust anybody “queen mum .
people dont listen .
she’s saying ” everyone must stand alone “
if you absolutely want a female idol, choice jean m auel. or ayla in the book.
turkey win
israel win
usa win
russia win
kurds loosers