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Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/world/middleeast/syria-isis-camp-al-hol-kurds.html
U.S. Shifts Away from Kurdish-Led Forces in Fight Against ISIS
(New York Times) Euan Ward - U.S. special envoy to Syria Thomas J. Barrack Jr. said Tuesday that Washington no longer needed to rely on Kurdish-led forces as its primary partner to fight the Islamic State, arguing that the Syrian government was now prepared to take over security duties. This signaled a major shift in American policy toward it longtime ally, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). It also underscored Washington's increasing confidence in Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. "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," Barrack said on X. After suffering stinging battlefield defeats over the past week, the SDF on Sunday signed a ceasefire and integration deal that many analysts say looked like a surrender. The SDF agreed to merge its forces into the Syrian military, relinquish control of oil fields and assets, and hand over control of security infrastructure, including prisons holding Islamic State detainees. The U.S. had traded partnership with the Kurds for one with the central government, which agreed to join the U.S.-led global coalition to defeat the Islamic State. Nevertheless, Kurdish forces would continue to protect Kurdish Syrians in their territory, said Ilham Ahmed, head of the foreign relations department of the Kurdish administration in northeastern Syria. "Our people don't trust that the army will protect them, so this will be our mission," she added.