Syrian government forces sweep into Raqqa in ongoing push into Kurdish-held areas

The military push into the city deep into eastern Syria came after tensions between Damascus and the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, flared up earlier this month, leading to deadly clashes and the government taking control of three Aleppo neighborhoods from Kurdish fighters. The SDF is also losing ground in Deir el-Zour province.

The SDF didn’t immediately comment on the Raqqa developments, but earlier said its forces prevented attacks by the Islamic State group in some neighborhoods in the city.

An Associated Press reporter in the area said that large military convoys swept into the city and were greeted by residents. It appeared that the SDF had withdrawn.

US efforts to bring calm

Earlier, the military seized Tabqa in the province of Raqqa, which is viewed as critical because of a dam that controls the southward flow of the Euphrates River, and is also home to an air base. The government took control of oil fields in the province.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus. Washington’s efforts to bring about calm between both sides, their key allies in Syria, have thus far been unsuccessful.

Since leading an insurgency to oust longtime President Bashar Assad in December 2024, al-Sharaa has struggled to assert full control across the country and appeal to minorities skeptical of Syria’s Islamist-led rule. The government and the SDF have traded accusations of violating an agreement in March that would reintegrate northeastern Syria and Kurdish-led forces with the government.

After the government’s military push, Syrian official news agency SANA said Sunday that a statement would be made about integrating the SDF into Syrian state institutions, after reports surfaced of SDF leader Mazloum Abdi resuming talks with Damascus.

The SDF has controlled large swaths of northeastern Syria for years, including its oil fields, and has been Washington’s key ally in combating the extremist Islamic State group. Since Assad’s ouster, however, the United States has developed strong ties with Damascus and tried to ease tensions between the two sides.

Syrian troops welcomed

An Associated Press reporter saw residents coming out of their homes to welcome the Syrian troops while waving the national flag. Another AP journalist saw Syrian government forces in control of oil fields in Raqqa province that had previously been under the control of the SDF.

The U.S. had urged calm after this month’s Aleppo clashes left at least 23 dead and tens of thousands displaced. After the fighting halted, Abdi said Friday that the group would withdraw its forces from the area to the east of the Euphrates following al-Sharaa’s announcement on measures adopted to strengthen Kurdish rights in Syria.

SDF losing territory

Last week, Syria’s Defense Ministry closed off a contested area in eastern Aleppo as a military zone, which includes part of a tense front line that divides the areas under government and SDF control.

It now appears that the SDF lost large segments of what was once under its control in northeast Syria, especially in Raqqa and Deir el-Zour provinces. Syrian government troops are also backed by local armed Arab tribes that currently oppose the SDF.

In the Deir el-Zour province, further east, asked residents to stay home after reports of clashes with the SDF. Pressure has apparently mounted in the strategic province

Relations between the SDF and Arab tribes in the eastern province near a strategic border crossing with Iraq have been strained. Deir el-Zour is also home to the Al-Omar oil and Conoco gas fields, near where U.S. troops are based in the area. There have been unconfirmed reports that local armed tribes opposed to the Kurdish-led administration have taken control of the fields.

Reports of executions

Meanwhile, the Syrian government, in a statement, accused SDF forces of killing prisoners in Tabqa before withdrawing from the area. The SDF denied the allegations, saying they had transferred the detainees out of the prison, and accused government forces of firing at the facility. It shared a video showing armed men in civilian clothing in the prison seizing munitions left there, with the person filming yelling: “We liberated Tabqa prison!” No bodies were seen in the short video.

An AP journalist visited two prisons in Tabqa and found them empty of prisoners. There were no bodies inside. However, he saw three bodies of people in civilian clothes who appeared to have been killed at a school near one of the prisons.

The SDF took Tabqa from IS back in 2017 as part of its military campaign to take down the Islamic State group’s so-called caliphate, which at its peak stretched across large parts of Syria and Iraq. At the height of its control, IS declared Raqqa its capital.

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Associated Press writer Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

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