Damascus escalation could undermine gains in fight against ISIS: SDF

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Islamic State (ISIS) cells are exploiting military operations by Damascus-affiliated forces and ongoing threats against northeast Syria (Rojava) to attack prisons holding their militants, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said Thursday, warning that further escalation could undermine years of counterterrorism efforts.

In a statement on its official Telegram channel, the SDF said that “amid attacks by Damascus-linked factions, military buildups, and continued threats against North and East Syria [Rojava], ISIS terrorist cells are attempting to take advantage of the situation to target prisons holding their members.”

The SDF stressed that their forces remain “fully prepared and vigilant” and “have taken all necessary measures to secure the prisons and prevent any security breaches,” adding that the facilities are “currently under full control.”

However, the Kurdish-led forces warned that the continued “military escalation could lead to widespread instability, posing a serious threat to prison security and risking to return the region to square one after years of sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.”

While the SDF did not name the prisons, it is believed they were referring to jails holding ISIS remnants in Hasaka province in eastern Rojava.

The Kurdish-led SDF serves as the de facto military force in the region. Until Syria joined the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS in November, the SDF had been the coalition’s sole on-the-ground partner, playing a key role in ISIS’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019. 

Despite its losses, ISIS has continued insurgent attacks against the SDF and its affiliated Internal Security Forces (Asayish), with assaults escalating over the past year amid the instability following the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad’s regime in December 2024.

In late December, the SDF reported carrying out 163 security and military operations against ISIS cells in 2025, arresting and killing dozens, including three leaders.

The Kurdish-led forces said these operations included at least three large-scale sweeps, 128 raids on ISIS hideouts, and 32 direct clashes, while also defusing 79 improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

During the same period, ISIS carried out 220 attacks in areas under SDF control.

Last week, thousands of Syrian army troops and allied jihadists launched a wide-scale attack on the predominantly Kurdish Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood neighborhoods, to take control of northern Aleppo areas that had been secured for nearly 15 years by the Asayish.

The deadly violence claimed the lives of at least 82 people - including 43 civilians - according to a Sunday report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR). The fighting also displaced around 150,000 people, the Erbil-based Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) told Rudaw a day earlier.

Shortly after a ceasefire came into effect in Aleppo’s Kurdish areas on Sunday, the Syrian army’s Operations Command on Tuesday declared additional Kurdish-held areas - this time Deir Hafer, Maskanah, and surrounding areas in eastern Aleppo - as “closed military zones.”

These areas, controlled by the SDF, have in past months been flashpoints for Damascus-affiliated factions, who view seizing them as a way to open a logistical corridor connecting Aleppo to Raqqa province while increasing military pressure on the SDF along the Euphrates River.

The latter push prompted veteran US lawmakers to warn of a “stronger reaction” if Syrian forces advance further against “our Kurdish allies.”

Influential US Senator Graham on Wednesday remarked, “I’m receiving what I believe to be credible reports that Syrian army forces and Turkey may be advancing further against our Kurdish allies - a move that I believe would prompt a strong response from the United States.”

He added, “While I support giving this new Syrian government a chance, I will not tolerate or accept a brazen attack against our Kurdish allies,” concluding, “To the Syrian government and Turkey: choose wisely.”

Last updated at 2:20 pm.