Syria: tensions flare up again between the SDF and Arab tribal leaders

Istanbul. Last week, a number of ‘war tents’ set up in the oil-rich Syrian region of Hasakah, in the north-east of the country, raised concerns about possible violence in an area that is home to Syria’s last major detention centres for foreign nationals accused of links to the Islamic State (IS) group, as well as being a zone that has been contested for decades between Arab tribes and Kurdish factions. The Roj camp, situated about 15 kilometres from the Syrian border with Iraq, still houses hundreds of families of alleged Islamic State fighters.

The tents, set up by a number of Arab tribal leaders and fighters on 23 July, were accompanied by threats of violence should their demands not be met, including better services and the full handover of the area to the central government. Both the majority of Syrian Arabs and Kurds desire greater peace and prosperity, as local sources have often reiterated since the current government in Damascus took control of most of the country in December 2024, following the ousting of the Assad regime. Since then, Syria has reopened to much of the world. On 25 July, António Guterres became the first UN chief since 2009 – before a war that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and left millions displaced – to visit Damascus.

Arab tribes in north-eastern Syria have long denounced discriminatory behaviour by the Kurdish-led, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) towards Arabs, as well as alleged land grabs and arbitrary arrests. Syrian tribes are largely conservative and tend to oppose greater participation by women in decision-making processes and the armed forces, whilst the SDF has long made extensive use of both women and underage girls within its ranks, including in suicide attacks. Much of the SDF’s leadership has spent decades in the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the United States, the European Union and Turkey.

The predominantly Arab regions of Deir Ezzor and Raqqa, previously under SDF control, have come under the control of the central government since Arab SDF fighters defected en masse in January, with Arab tribal fighters initially securing the areas ahead of the arrival of central government forces. Local Arabs made up the bulk of the SDF’s ranks during the years of fighting against Islamic State in north-eastern Syria, but most claimed to be doing so for a wage and to remain in their home areas, rather than out of ideological affinity with the SDF. The only region still largely under SDF control is Hasakah. According to the Assyria Post, Kurds make up the majority in only one of the five districts, with this ethnic group accounting for more than 50 per cent of the population only in the smallest district, al-Malikiya, which is the northernmost and easternmost.

Myles B. Caggins III, CEO of Words Warriors, an energy and security consultancy with operations in Syria, told Il Foglio that he had recently been in Hasakah province, where he met local leaders and ordinary citizens, all of whom were in favour of a peaceful integration of the security forces and a handover of services from the former autonomous administration to the Syrian transitional government, referring to the current government in Damascus. “Unfortunately, some agitators have recently made provocative and bellicose statements, threatening violence against the Kurds. The Syrian Ministry of the Interior swiftly quelled the rhetoric and the tribes have fallen into line,” he said. Caggins served as spokesperson for the US-led international anti-ISIS coalition in 2019–2020, a role that included visits to north-eastern Syria under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces, with whom he built strong relationships. “On the economic front, we have seen the Syrian Petroleum Company and international oil companies, including HKN and Gulfsands, commence operations in Hasakah. Foreign companies are hiring a predominantly local workforce, and in the long term – over the next five to ten years – north-eastern Syria will become prosperous; the United States wants Syria to succeed, and the removal of Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism will help allay the concerns of investors and financial institutions,” he said.

Some social media sources report that agreements between the central government in Damascus and the Kurdish-led SDF regarding the handover of heavy weapons, including tanks, have been finalised and will be implemented “within a week”. Al Arabiya has reported that the SDF are preparing to announce their official disbandment, possibly in early August. No official statement has yet been issued.