Author: Orhan Qereman and Khalil Ashawi
QAMISHLI, Syria, January 24 (Reuters) – A four-day ceasefire agreement between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces expired on Saturday night, with the fate of the ceasefire uncertain and both sides accusing each other of violating the agreement.
The ceasefire ended at 8pm (1700 GMT), with Syrian and Kurdish forces massing on either side of the front line around the last Kurdish-controlled cities.
Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mustafa said the deadline for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces has expired. “The Syrian government confirms it is now considering its next options,” he added on X.
The SDF had no immediate comment on the fate of the ceasefire.
Government forces have seized large swaths of territory in the north and east from the SDF over the past two weeks in a rapid turn of events that has consolidated the rule of President Ahmed Sala.
Earlier this week, Shara’s troops were closing in on the SDF’s last strongholds when he abruptly announced a ceasefire, giving them until Saturday night to lay down their weapons and make plans to integrate with Syrian forces or resume fighting.
Syria’s foreign ministry on Saturday denied reports that an extension to the ceasefire had been reached, calling the reports baseless, the state news agency reported.
The ministry also said there had been no “positive response” to the government’s proposals and accused the SDF of repeated violations of the truce.
The SDF said the government was escalating the situation in a “systematic manner.”
“Military build-ups and logistical operations have been observed, which clearly indicate intentions to escalate and push the region towards new confrontations,” the Self-Defense Forces said in a statement.
Sources say U.S. and France remain wary of Kurds
The United States has been engaging in shuttle diplomacy to establish a lasting ceasefire and facilitate the integration of the SDF, which has been Washington’s main partner in Syria for years, into the country led by its new favored ally, Shara.
Diplomatic sources told Reuters that senior U.S. and French officials had urged Shara not to send troops into remaining Kurdish-controlled areas, fearing a renewed fighting could lead to mass abuses of Kurdish civilians.
Last year, government-affiliated forces killed nearly 1,500 Alawites and hundreds of Druze in sectarian violence, including execution-style killings.
Amid instability in the northeast, U.S. forces have been moving hundreds of imprisoned Islamic State fighters to Iraq from Syrian prisons formerly run by the SDF.
Year-long escalation of tensions reaches peak
Kurdish security sources told Reuters that SDF forces also strengthened defensive positions in the cities of Qamishli, Hasakah and Kobani in preparation for possible fighting as Saturday’s deadline approached.
The possible showdown is the culmination of last year’s escalation of tensions.
Sala, whose forces overthrew long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024, has vowed to bring all of Syria under state control, including SDF-controlled areas in the northeast.
But Kurdish authorities, who have run autonomous civilian and military institutions there for the past decade, have refused to cooperate with Shara’s Islamist government.
The end-of-year deadline for merger has passed with little progress and the Syrian army launched an offensive this month.
They quickly seized two major Arab-majority provinces from the SDF, bringing under government control key oil fields, hydroelectric dams and a number of facilities holding Islamic State militants and affiliated civilians.
(Reporting by Orhan Qereman in Qamishli, Khalil Ashawi and Mahmoud Hasano in Deir ez-Zor; Laila Bassam in Beirut, Ece Toksabay in Ankara and Menna Alaa El-Din in Cairo; Writing by Maya Gebeily, Jonathan Spicer and Hatem Maher; Editing by William Mallard, Sharon Singleton, Daren Butler)
