24.01.2026, 21:17
Zitat:Why Did the SDF Collapse So Rapidly?
Rena Netjes
Jan 24, 2026
Why Did the SDF Collapse So Rapidly?
“Ras al-Ayn, 2023. Young men, many under 18, who fled SDF control in Deir Ezzor, Raqqa, and Hasaka.”
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—a U.S.-created coalition established in 2015 under the leadership of the Kurdish YPG alongside Arab FSA factions and individuals to fight ISIS—lost roughly two-thirds of its territory in just days. Lavishly funded, armed, and internationally backed for nearly a decade, the speed of the collapse stunned many observers. Yet on closer inspection, the unraveling was neither sudden nor accidental. It was the endpoint of long-running political failure, social alienation, and external agreements in addition to a much better alternative rule for the Arab tribal population that quietly stripped the SDF of its purpose.
When I left Damascus on December 30, talks were still ongoing between SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Syrian interim president Ahmad Al-Sharaa. One of the figures involved in arranging the initial meeting told the author:
“Abdi asked an extension of the 10 March agreement of six months and Al-Sharaa refused, then he asked for three months, he refused again. Al-Sharaa gave him till mid-January, Abdi said he needed to consult with some people in Qamishli and elsewhere in northeast Syria.”
By mid-January, the deadline had indeed passed. I was reminded of words shared with me earlier in Damascus.
Western pressure accompanied the negotiations. “The French, the UK and the Americans were putting pressure on Al-Sharaa to extend the 10 March agreement,” says Wael Olwan, director of the Damascus-based Josour Research Center. Yet Al-Sharaa appeared increasingly frustrated with what he viewed as stalling. The same pattern repeated on 19 January, when Abdi again requested another five days to “consult.”
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