According to the Kurdish self-administration in northeastern Syria, attempts have already been made to break out of the notorious al-Hol camp. In addition to IS fighters, their relatives are also being held in the camp near the Iraqi border. SDF spokesman Farhad Schami said that IS supporters tried to escape in the al-Hol camp. This could have been thwarted, but the women now attacked the security personnel. There are also concerns that ISIS could exploit the instability caused by the change in power to plan new attacks.
“We welcome this ceasefire,” said Khaled Davrisch, representative of the self-government of North and East Syria in Germany, in a press statement. However, the interim government is not complying with this in several places. Protecting civilians should be the top priority.
Meanwhile, residents in al-Raqqa reported that they did not leave their homes out of caution. “We are happy that the government has taken over. We feel that we are part of our united Syria again.” According to eyewitnesses, there were power outages in large parts of the city in al-Raqqa and bakeries remained closed.
Critics of the agreement and especially the Kurdish population fear that the agreement will herald the de facto end of Kurdish self-government in northeastern Syria. The administration, known as “Rojava,” is part of the Kurds’ long quest for their own state. In addition to Syria, the ethnic group with an estimated 30 million members lives primarily in Iraq, Iran and Turkey. In Syria, too, the conflict primarily revolves around how much autonomy and what rights the Kurds will receive.
Kurdish sources said that SDF chief Maslum Abdi is expected in the Syrian capital Damascus today for a meeting with interim President al-Sharaa. There was no official confirmation of this. However, Davrisch confirmed the meeting. There will be an explanation later today. Meanwhile, Al-Sharaa postponed a visit to Berlin planned for today and Tuesday, a federal government spokesman confirmed. Al-Sharaa was supposed to meet Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz.
The SDF was an important ally of the US military in the fight against the terrorist group IS, which once controlled large areas in Syria and Iraq. At that time, Al-Raqqa was the de facto capital of the “caliphate” that IS had declared in the region. After heavy fighting, the SDF, with the support of the US military, finally took control again in October 2017.
