Violence surged in Syria on Monday, with reports surfacing about beheadings and prison breaks orchestrated by Islamic State militants. This followed a newly inked agreement between President Ahmed al-Shalah’s administration and the US-supported Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
For years, the SDF and its allied Kurdish political groups maintained a level of autonomy in the Rojava region, or Syrian Kurdistan, during the rule of former dictator Bashar al-Assad. After Assad’s military fell apart in late 2024, he sought refuge in Russia, effectively leaving power in the hands of al-Qaeda affiliates, particularly Shara’a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
Shara’a has exerted considerable pressure on the SDF over the past year, insisting they join the reformed Syrian army and collaborate with HTS, claiming that Kurdish self-rule threatened governmental stability. He has garnered significant backing from the U.S., with President Trump calling him a “young, attractive man” capable of maintaining order.
Recently, an agreement was announced between Shara’a and the SDF, wherein the Kurds would relinquish significant control over Rojava, including key oil fields and governance of traditionally Arab regions like Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. The SDF emerged victorious in these areas after dismantling the Islamic State caliphate with U.S. support in 2017. In return, Shara’a’s regime agreed to honor Kurdish culture and allow the Kurdish language in local schools.
HTS, while being a jihadist group, has resisted unification with the Islamic State throughout much of its history and has primarily focused on overthrowing Assad rather than establishing a caliphate. However, with its roots in Islamism, one of Shara’a’s first actions upon seizing power was to enforce an Islamist constitution, regardless of Syria’s diverse population, which includes large groups of Kurds, Druze, Christians, and Alawites.
The new agreement follows months of attacks on the Kurdish community from groups aligned with the Shara’a regime, including a recent incident in Alek Point, which Kurdish leaders condemned as a war crime.
SDF officials alleged that these terrorists committed brutal acts against Kurds in regions affected by the Shara’a-SDF deal. Reports from Kurdish media noted that regime-aligned jihadists “decapitated a group of captured fighters and filmed it like ISIS.” The SDF provided a video to the press that included graphic footage of the beheadings. Following these claims, several unverified social media clips emerged, showing captured Kurdish women being abducted for possible exploitation.
In a separate development, the Syrian government confirmed a prison break at a facility housing captured Islamic State fighters, with approximately 120 jihadists escaping. By Tuesday, the Shara’a-affiliated Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that 81 escapees were apprehended, while efforts were ongoing to track the remaining fugitives.
SANA also dismissed similar reports of breakouts and clashes occurring outside the prison for Islamic State detainees in Raqqa, reports that originated from the Self-Defense Forces.
“There are currently violent clashes between our forces and various factions near the al-Akhtan prison in Raqqa, where ISIS detainees are held—a situation that poses a serious threat,” the SDF remarked in a statement. They continued, “We must express concern that these factions aim to seize control of our prisons, which could lead to severe instability and a potential resurgence of chaos and terrorism.”
Additionally, unnamed SDF sources suggested that a prison near Raqqa is under siege, with potentially 2,000 Islamic State members at risk of being freed, after other countries refused to accept them back. Reports indicated that the Shara’a government was shelling these facilities in an apparent effort to liberate prisoners.
President Trump, who has been a proponent of Sharaa since the downfall of Assad, spoke with him by phone on Monday.
“During the call, both leaders underscored the necessity of maintaining Syria’s territorial integrity and supporting efforts aimed at stability,” noted a report by SANA. “They affirmed the need to ensure the rights and protection of the Kurdish people within the Syrian framework.”
The White House had not provided comments about the conversation at the time of reporting.
Kurdish rights advocates have initiated worldwide protests to highlight the jihadist assault in Rojava this week. Kurds held demonstrations in Iraq, Syria, and across Europe on Tuesday, demanding an end to the attacks. Reports indicated that the protesters emphasized the U.S.’s moral responsibility to halt what they termed a massacre of civilians in Western Kurdistan (Rojava).
