Syria fighting updates: Government, SDF agree to four-day ceasefire

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Read about why the US said the SDF’s role in Syria has “largely expired” after ISIL here.

Learn more about how the Syrian Army pushed Kurdish-led forces out of oil-rich territory here.

And dig deeper into why analysts say Syria’s war-ravaged oil sector faces a tough road to recovery here.

• A ceasefire came into effect between the Syrian government and the SDF for four days, while both sides work on a plan for the practical integration of the northeastern Hasakah province.
• Despite the ceasefire, government-allied groups allegedly attacked several areas, including Tal Baroud, Zarkan and Raqqa, according to the SDF’s spokesperson, Farhad Shami.
• Ibrahim Olabi, Syria’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the government is working with the US to ensure that the ceasefire holds.
• Syria’s Interior Ministry said government forces have begun taking control of the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, which houses families of ISIL fighters and other long-term refugees, after the SDF withdrew earlier today.
• Trump said he spoke with his Syrian counterpart, al-Sharaa, yesterday to discuss the situation in Syria’s prisons. Earlier, he had told the New York Post that he coordinated work to stop ISIL prisoners from escaping the al-Shaddadi prison.
• Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for Syria, said the Syrian Kurds are being offered “a pathway to full integration into a unified Syrian state with citizenship rights, cultural protections, and political participation”.
• In a lengthy post on X, Barrack noted that while the SDF was best positioned to work with the US to defeat ISIL in 2019, the situation on the ground in Syria “has fundamentally changed” as Damascus is now equipped to work with Washington on “counterterrorism” efforts.

The biggest reason for these clashes and violent confrontations this past month has been a failure to peacefully integrate SDF fighters into government institutions.

Last March, there was a deal to integrate SDF fighters, who are said to number between 50 and 90,000. But in the March deal, they said they were going to form three divisions under joint Damascus and Kurdish control, and that these divisions would be separate from the rest of the army.

Now they’re saying they should integrate on an individual basis after vetting. So that’s going to be a separation of these fighters from each other and from Kurdish command, which will make [for] a very dangerous situation.

Some of these fighters may not be willing to integrate peacefully, so this is still a major sticking point in the negotiations.

The role of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as the “primary anti-ISIS force on the ground” has “largely expired” as the Syrian government is ready to assume security responsibilities, US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack has said.

“Historically, the US military presence in northeastern Syria was justified primarily as a counter-ISIS partnership,” Barrack wrote on X.

He added that Syria’s situation has “fundamentally” transformed, with Damascus joining the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS as its 90th member in late 2025.

Syria is now “willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities”, including control of ISIL (ISIS) detention facilities and camps, he said.

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The US president says he spoke with his Syrian counterpart yesterday about the situation in Syrian prisons.

“We have some of the worst terrorists in the world in those prisons,” Trump told reporters, stressing that al-Sharaa was “working very, very hard”.

Trump was later asked what his administration would do to ensure that Kurdish rights in Syria are protected.

“We get along with the Kurds, and we are trying to protect the Kurds,” he said.

Here’s a recap of the most recent major developments:

• The Syrian presidency said that it reached an understanding ⁠with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under which the group will have four days ⁠to agree on a plan for the practical integration of the northeastern Hasakah province. A ceasefire will be in effect for those four days.
• Syria’s Interior Ministry said the army’s forces have begun to take control of the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria, home to thousands of members of ISIL (ISIS) fighters’ families, as well as other long-term refugees from the conflict. The SDF abandoned control of the camp earlier today.
• Turkiye said it is investigating the burning of its flag during protests along its border with Syria by pro-Kurdish groups, coinciding with the clashes there between the Damascus government army and Kurdish-led forces.
• US President Donald Trump told the New York Post that he coordinated work to stop ISIL (ISIS) prisoners from escaping Syria’s al-Shaddadi prison on Sunday and Monday.
• Despite the ceasefire, government-allied groups are allegedly launching an attack in several areas, including Tal Baroud, Zarkan, and Raqqa, according to the SDF’s spokesperson, Farhad Shami.

Abdul Karim Omar, a Kurdish representative in Damascus, tells Al Jazeera that the northeastern region of Syria, formerly under SDF control, is ready for the process of integrating the SDF forces into the institutions of the Syrian state.

Many questions remain on whether the four-day ceasefire announced this evening between the SDF and the Syrian government will hold, and whether the talks between the two parties to bring the Hasakah governorate into the state will bear fruit.

Syria’s civil defence, known as the White Helmets, has warned residents in areas where fighting recently broke out to be careful about unexploded ordnance in homes and on roads.

In a post shared on Telegram, the White Helmets said demining teams with the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management were conducting surveys in Deir Az Zor and in the towns of Maskana and Tabqa in the Raqqa countryside.

“Be wary of any unfamiliar object, do not touch or move it, and report it immediately,” the post said.

With this ceasefire, there are several risks and dangers that fighting may continue. One of them is control and command of forces on the ground.

The SDF is not a monolithic entity; It’s a coalition, and there are many fighters – from tribal fighters to PKK fighters, and the PKK fighters may not be so willing to lay down their weapons even though the SDF has said they should.

We’ve seen previous statements by the SDF saying that they will abide by the ceasefire, but on the ground, the reality has been different.

The government, too, is working with a sort of coalition. There are tribal fighters in their ranks and, on Sunday, after the [last ceasefire] deal was made, President al-Sharaa called for calm from them.

There have been dangers in the past … Last July, tribal fighters aligned with the government were accused of carrying out sectarian killings in Suwayda. So there’s a real issue of how the control and command of Damascus and the SDF commanders relates to peace on the ground.

Fighting around two prisons holding thousands of ISIL detainees has exposed one of Syria’s most dangerous unresolved legacies.

The SDF has managed facilities that held about 60,000 people at their peak.

Human Rights Watch says approximately 18,000 detainees are foreign nationals from more than 60 countries, while most Western nations have refused to repatriate adult male fighters.

Al Jazeera’s Osama bin Javaid reports in the video below:

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace initiative and also recent developments in Syria during today’s phone call, a Turkish foreign ministry source tells the Reuters news agency.

Turkiye is considered to be a major winner in recent developments in Syria, with the US effectively sidelining its ally, the Kurdish-led SDF, as its main partner in the fight against ISIL, instead placing Damascus at the forefront.

The prime minister of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, speaking at the World Economic Forum of Davos, said that the Syrian government is working under difficult circumstances and needs support, noting that the international community is helping it reach stability and reconstruction.

Al Thani emphasised that while Syria faces serious challenges, its social fabric will aid it in realising its goals.

He added that everyone looks forward to seeing a stable Syria, stressing that the responsibility of the region and the international community is to support the country through institution-building.

A spokesperson for Antonio Guterres says the UN chief is calling for the “full respect of international law and the protection of civilians” amid the violence in Syria.

“He also stresses the importance of securing detention facilities,” Farhan Haq told reporters during a briefing in New York.

“The secretary-general urges the parties to continue dialogue and to move forward in good faith and work together to secure the implementation of all agreements.”

During a meeting of the Saudi cabinet today in Riyadh, the body discussed recent developments in Syria, reiterating its welcoming of the ceasefire agreement between the SDF and the Syrian government, which now seems to be on increasingly shaky ground.

“The Cabinet also affirmed its full support for efforts to promote civil peace, preserve the sovereignty and territorial integrity of this brotherly country”,  Saudi Minister of Media Salman bin Yousef al-Dossari was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency.

Saudi Arabia was one of the first and strongest backers of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government when it came to power in Syria just over one year ago.

The US president has told the New York Post that he coordinated work to stop ISIL (ISIS) prisoners from escaping Syria’s al-Shaddadi prison on Sunday and Monday.

The prison, housing members of ISIL, was previously administered by the Kurdish-led SDF, but was taken over by the Syrian government during its lightning advance into SDF-held areas of northeastern Syria over the last week.

The SDF maintains that some prisoners escaped as its fighters fled the chaos of Syrian government attacks, while the government says the SDF released prisoners on purpose as a political bargaining chip.

“I did a great job. You know what I did? I stopped a prison break,” Trump told the New York Post.

“European terrorists were in prison. They had a prison break. And working with the government of Syria and the new leader of Syria, they captured all the prisoners, put them back in jail, and these were the worst terrorists in the world, all from Europe,” he continued.

The SDF has made several statements over the past few days claiming its calls for aid to the US-led international coalition in Syria to secure the prison and its detainees went unheeded.