Syrian Democratic Forces and the difficult test

The world’s preoccupation with the Ukrainian war, Turkish President’s threats to launch a new military operatio against northeastern Syria to support his electoral process to be held in June 2023, and the siege imposed by the Fourth Division of the Syrian government forces on some neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, led the sleeper cells of ISIS in the east of the Euphrates, which is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to launch an attack on a center of the Internal Security Forces of North and East Syria (Asayish) in the city of Raqqa. The attack led to the killing of one of the attackers and the arrest of the other who was wearing an explosive belt. Also, four members of the Asayish and two fighters of the SDF lost their lives.

The SDF Commander in Chief, Mazloum Abdi, said in a previous tweet that the ISIS terrorist moves coincide with the Turkish threats to launch a new operation targeting the security and stability of the region. In response, the SDF and the Asayish carried out a sweeping campaign to arrest the sleeping cells in the city of Raqqa by declaring a total curfew in the city and declaring a state of emergency. In cooperation with the people, dozens of ISIS terrorist cells were arrested.

This operation is not the first of its kind, but the Asayish carried out a similar operation in al-Hol camp last year to eradicate ISIS and its cells from its roots.

The SDF has several options to preserve the gains of the peoples of the region who sacrificed with thousands of martyrs and wounded to preserve the gains of their peoples, sects, and all races with their colorful mosaics, whose blood was mixed on the soil of northern and northeastern Syria. These options are as follows:

1- Addressing any new operation to preserve the stability of the region from any threats, whether from Turkey, ISIS, or any other party. This was renewed through the visit paid by two prominent officials of the US-led Global Coalition and the President of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Bafel Talabani to the region. The SDF possesses military experiences, high combat expertise, and military tactics in the fields of war, which it gained by fighting fierce battles against the terrorist organization of ISIS, in addition to developing its weapons and war equipment. It has also tens of thousands of fighters trained in various ground wars of all kinds. This makes the SDF an essential and important party in any upcoming war. There will be no settlement without the SDF on the Syrian arena.

2- Making concessions to the Syrian government requiring the withdrawal of the SDF from Tel Rifaat, Manbij, and Kobani and the entry of the government forces to these areas, the handing over of the entire border strip to the government forces, and the return of all government institutions in these areas to be under the control of the government. This step is unlikely unless the rights of the communities – Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, and others – of the region are preserved.

3- The officially Russian mediation between the SDF and the Syrian government to resolve the outstanding differences between the two parties and to accept the SDF within the government forces (its defense institution) while preserving its privacy and independence as it is, without prejudice, and recognizing the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) within a decentralized Syria.