Syria
Kurds fleeing a government advance through Kurdish-controlled areas arrive in the Kurdish city of Qamishli in northeast Syria (Rojava) on January 19, 2026. Photo: Delil Souleiman / AFP
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A senior official from northeast Syria (Rojava) told Rudaw that a meeting between Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi and Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa held in Damascus earlier in the day on Monday was not positive, accusing the transitional government of seeking to dismantle Kurdish self-rule and opposing Kurdish rights.
Foza Alyusuf, a senior member of northeast Syria’s (Rojava) ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), said the interim government wants the Kurdish-led Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) to “hand over all authority” and “for Rojava to return to its pre-2011 status,” before the outbreak of the Syrian uprising.
She added that Damascus wants the Kurdish-led administration to “dismantle its institutions” and is “opposed to the Kurds gaining their rights.”
Alyusuf also asserted that the majority of armed groups attacking the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Rojava are Islamic State (ISIS) militants.
Nonetheless, she asserted that “surrender is not an option” and that “the only option is resistance.”
Syrian state television said in a post on X that the SDF was targeting the vicinity of al-Aqtan Prison in Raqqa “after negotiations failed between the Syrian army and the SDF,” without providing further details.
Meanwhile, SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said that "tanks and artillery from Damascus factions are shelling al-Aqtan Prison in northern Raqqa city, which houses ISIS members and leaders."
Shami added that Damascus-affiliated armed groups are attempting "to storm the prison for the third time today," noting that SDF forces "are showing strong resistance against the attacks."
Earlier in the day, Shami posted a striking statement saying, "Everything [we do] is for our people. We either live a life with dignity or go as martyrs with honor."
Footage circulating on social media has purportedly shown Damascus-affiliated forces releasing detainees from prisons holding ISIS members.
“We know that it is always the dream of ISIS to break the walls of the prisons, and the United States has chosen to accept the risks because the US is focused on its relationship with Damascus and Ankara,” Myles Caggins, a retired US Army colonel and former spokesperson for the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, told Rudaw on Monday.
This is a developing story...
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