Military and political developments are escalating in northern Syria, as the region east of the Euphrates returns to the forefront of the conflict, serving as a testbed for the balance of power and the drawing of new influence lines. Recent hours have seen intensified confrontations following the Syrian army’s announcement regarding the handover of the city and the surrounding of Kurdish forces in the vicinity of its military airport, in the latest step of a series of events.
This development followed scattered clashes and an expansion of fighting in the western countryside of Raqqa. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that the area was subjected to continuous artillery and rocket shelling, alongside violent clashes on the Dibsi Afnan axis and the perimeter of the city of Resafa.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announced on Friday the decision to withdraw his forces from the contact lines in the eastern Aleppo countryside, with the withdrawal set to begin Saturday morning. He explained that the move came based on calls from friendly countries and mediators, as a gesture of goodwill to ensure the success of the integration process with Syrian authorities.
However, the path was not without escalation; Syrian authorities accused the SDF of violating the agreement by targeting army patrols near the city of Maskanah, resulting in the death of two soldiers and the injury of others, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). The agency added that two other soldiers were killed in a suicide drone attack targeting the town of Dibsi Afnan in the western Raqqa countryside, with Damascus accusing entities linked to the “PKK” of being behind the attack.
The SDF stated that the clashes in Dibsi Afnan broke out following an attack launched by the Syrian army on its positions, considering what happened a clear violation of the internationally-sponsored agreement, which stipulates a ceasefire and a 48-hour grace period for its fighters to withdraw from Dayr Hafir and Maskanah. Following these developments, the SDF announced a total curfew in Raqqa Governorate starting Saturday until further notice.
In a statement broadcast on state television, the Syrian army said, “We announce the extension of our control over 34 villages and towns in the eastern Aleppo countryside,” including Dayr Hafir and Maskanah, as well as a military airport, while demanding the SDF leadership’s full withdrawal to the east of the Euphrates River. Syrian authorities also revealed the regaining of control over two oil fields in the north of the country that were under the control of Kurdish forces.
Given the fast-moving facts, the political track emerged through a meeting held today in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq, bringing together U.S. Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack and SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi, in the presence of Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Masoud Barzani.
According to a statement issued after the meeting, the situation in Syria and the latest field developments were discussed, emphasizing that solving problems must be based on dialogue, understanding, and peaceful means. Barzani expressed his gratitude to the United States for its role in helping Syrian parties reach political solutions.
These developments follow an agreement signed on March 10, 2025, which stipulates the integration of civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria into the state administration—an agreement that forms the political framework for the current conflict between field escalation and attempts to recalibrate the scene through negotiation.
Amidst these developments, the scene east of the Euphrates is shifting from military engagement to the broader question of political and military influence: who has the ability to impose a sustainable formula? The east of the Euphrates is not merely a military battlefield but a knot of international and regional interests where the calculations of Damascus and Ankara intersect with the SDF’s hold on its heartland.
United News Network – UNN Arabic
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