SDF Arab fighters say families harassed by Damascus

QAMISHLI, Syria - The government in Damascus and its affiliated armed groups are harassing and at times killing members of the families of Arab fighters of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to pressure them into quitting the Kurdish-led force, several Arab fighters on the frontlines told Rudaw.

The SDF has deployed tens of thousands of troops across a vast stretch of the frontline facing Syrian Arab army of President Ahmad al-Sharaa on the third day of a fragile ceasefire which is set to come to an end on Saturday.

SDF chief General Mazloum Abdi said on X after a meeting in Erbil with US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack on Thursday that he appreciated the US efforts in mediation and the Kurds "will diligently and with all our capabilities work to achieve genuine integration and maintain the current ceasefire."

While all parties, including President Masoud Barzani and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, are closely involved in mediating a permanent ceasefire between warring parties, Damascus appears to be using different tools to force Arab members of SDF to abandon the force.

"There is a lot of pressure on families of Arab fighters to stop cooperating with the SDF," Yaser Ahmad, 28, who has fought alongside SDF since 2024, told Rudaw on the frontline east of Qamishli city. The group of fighters from Kurdish, Arab and even Alawite backgrounds recently stopped the central government forces on M4 road as they tried to take the strategic town of Jawadiyah, aiming to choke off the city of Qamishli.

"There was so much intimidation against the families of Arab fighters that they were left with no option to either choose their families or the SDF," Yaser said. "They even killed some of their family members."

The central government's record in treating the minorities is bleak, according to rights groups. A number of Alawites from the Sahel region on the Mediterranean Sea fled the region after government forces carried out several massacres in early 2025. Shindar Terbaspi left Sahel in July and sought refuge in the SDF controlled areas with his family.

"My grandparents and my extended family are still in Sahel, and they are under pressure," Shindar, who joined SDF, told Rudaw. "They use the language of sectarianism and have forced many Druze and Alawites to flee to the Kurdish areas."

Shindar lost four of his friends during the massacres in Sahel region at the hands of the central government forces and believes the international community has done little to limit the vagaries of the new ruler in Damascus.

The group of fighters gathered around a kerosene stove in a hut to fend off the freezing winds and snow outside on Friday. It is clear from their conversation that they have no faith in the new government of Ahmad al-Sharaa in Damascus, referring to him by his previous nom de guerre, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani.

"The transitional government behaves like a terrorist regime, and we don't accept this," Kurdish SDF fighter Mazloum Qamishli, 25, said. Mazloum fought for ten years in different locations, including in Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa, and lost many friends in fighting against Islamic State (ISIS) and al-Nusra Front, the force led by Sharaa and now known as Hayyat Tahir al-Sham (HTS).

"It is true that some [Arab SDF fighters] joined the Syrian army, but we still have many Arab fighters amongst us, and we fight side by side,” Qamishli said.

As for the Alawite fighter, he is pessimistic and believes there is a bleak future ahead. "It'll take a long time for Syria to see peace," Shindar said. "A lot more bloodshed will happen before we reach that stage."

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