US Special Envoy Tom Barrack said the SDF’s role as the primary anti-ISIS force has "largely expired" as Damascus prepares to take over security duties, including management of ISIL detention sites. He noted Syria joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS as its 90th member in late 2025 and highlighted President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s promises of Kurdish citizenship rights and language protections. Reporting also points to a longstanding US partnership with the SDF and the continued presence of around 900 US troops amid a newly announced four-day ceasefire.
US Envoy Says SDF’s Role ‘Largely Expired’ as Damascus Prepares to Resume Security Duties
Syrian government security forces inspect tunnels used by the retreating Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Raqqa, northeastern Syria [Omar Albam/AP]
US Special Envoy to Syria Tom Barrack has declared that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have "largely expired" as the country’s primary anti-ISIS force, saying the Damascus government is now prepared to take on security responsibilities across northeastern Syria.
What Barrack Said
Writing on X, Barrack argued that the original justification for US forces in northeastern Syria was a counter-ISIS partnership. He said Syria’s situation has "fundamentally" changed after Damascus joined the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS as its 90th member in late 2025, and that the Syrian government is now "willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities," including control of ISIL (also known as ISIS) detention centres and camps.
"Historically, the US military presence in northeastern Syria was justified primarily as a counter-ISIS partnership," Barrack wrote. "Syria is now willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities."
Implications for Kurdish Communities
Barrack suggested that Damascus’s renewed role as the country’s anti-ISIS force creates a "unique window" for Kurdish communities to pursue integration. He cited President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s pledge to grant Kurdish citizenships and protections for the Kurdish language, and described the Kurdish community’s future as being on a "pathway to full integration"—a shift linked by the envoy to a four-day ceasefire announced by the government.
On the Ground
Reporting from Damascus, Al Jazeera’s Ayman Oghanna noted the long-standing US relationship with the SDF: for more than a decade the US equipped, trained and fought alongside the SDF, and around 900 US troops remain in SDF-held areas. In the days before the ceasefire, some Syrian Kurds expressed concern that warming ties between Damascus and Washington could lead the US to scale back or end its partnership with the SDF.
Clashes were reported on Monday in the city of al-Shaddadi between the Syrian army and SDF fighters, during which individuals accused of ISIL links reportedly fled from prison. Despite those incidents, the Syrian army announced on Tuesday that both sides had agreed to a four-day ceasefire, and both parties publicly pledged to honour the arrangement.
What to Watch
Key items to monitor include implementation of the ceasefire, the fate of ISIL detainees and camps, how Damascus integrates Kurdish communities, and whether the US maintains its troop presence or recalibrates its posture in response to the changing security landscape.
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