Issues over a resurgence of the Islamic State in Syria stay heightened following the autumn of the Bashar al-Assad regime and a rise in assaults focusing on U.S.-aligned Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
President-elect Donald Trump might nicely face one other spherical towards the extremist group because the SDF faces a actuality by which it might must divide its focus between ISIS and threats levied at it by Turkey.
The SDF mentioned 5 of its troopers have been killed Saturday in assaults by Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria, reported Reuters.
Anti-regime fighters stand on the roadside as displaced Syrian Kurds drive automobiles loaded with belongings on the Aleppo-Raqqa freeway to flee areas on the outskirts of the northern metropolis of Aleppo which have been previously managed by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), after they have been seized by Islamist-led rebels on Dec. 2, 2024. (RAMI AL SAYED/AFP by way of Getty Photos)
TRUMP SAYS TURKEY ‘DID AN UNFRIENDLY TAKEOVER’ IN SYRIA AS US-BROKERED CEASE-FIRE APPEARS TO FAIL
The assaults got here following an obvious collapse in a cease-fire settlement brokered by the Biden administration because the U.S. and the SDF ramp up efforts to counter ISIS.
Nationwide safety advisor Jake Sullivan on Sunday informed CNN that his “single biggest concern” is the return of ISIS, which was deemed “defeated” in 2019.
“ISIS loves vacuums,” he mentioned in reference to the extremist group’s use of energy struggles in locations like North Africa to achieve footholds. “What we see in Syria right now are areas that are basically ungoverned because of the fall of the Assad regime.
“Our aim is to make sure that we help the SDF — the Kurds — and that we maintain ISIS in test,” he added.
Comrades attend the funeral of five fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who were killed in Manbij during clashes with Turkish-backed opposition factions earlier this week, in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on Dec. 14, 2024. (DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.S. has long had to balance its campaign against ISIS in Syria — which it is fighting with the help of the Kurdish coalition forces, despite Turkey deeming the SDF as akin to the terrorist network the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) — with Washington’s partnership alongside Ankara as a NATO ally.
“The SDF and the Assad regime have been the first opponents of ISIS,” Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and founding editor of “The Lengthy Battle Journal,” told Fox News Digital. “With the previous gone and the latter below strain from Turkish proxies, issues in regards to the enlargement of ISIS are warranted.”
“Turkey needs to destroy the SDF,” Roggio confirmed. “Turkey has the best alternative to destroy the SDF, and it’ll benefit from this distinctive state of affairs. I count on assault[s] towards the SDF to extend.”
PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP’S SYRIA DILEMMA: INTERVENE OR LET IT TURN INTO TERROR STATE
The Biden administration has already taken steps to ramp up its campaign against ISIS, hitting more than 75 sites in a significant strike earlier this month on known “ISIS leaders, operatives and camps,” U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed.
A soldier from the US-led coalition gestures towards schoolchildren during a joint U.S.- Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) patrol in the countryside of Qamishli in northeastern Syria Feb. 8, 2024. (Reuters/Orhan Qereman)
The operation coincided with the fall of Damascus on Dec. 8 following a sweeping takeover of Aleppo, Hama and Homs by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was aided by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA).
In addition, CENTCOM on Thursday killed ISIS leader Abu Yusif aka Mahmud using a precision airstrike in eastern Syria — an area where, according to Syrian news outlets, ISIS has been able to seize weapons depots belonging to the former Syrian military under the Assad regime amid the “chaos.”
SDF forces in an try and clamp down on ISIS uprisings captured 18 ISIS terrorists and suspected collaborators on Sunday close to town of Raqqa, which was as soon as an ISIS stronghold, in line with ANF Information.
The marketing campaign was reportedly completed “in cooperation with the worldwide coalition forces,” but CENTCOM has not yet confirmed whether the U.S. was involved.
US forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF, which Turkey consider as an extension of PKK in Syria, in the Qamisli district in the Al-Hasakah province, Syria on Aug. 18, 2023. The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkiye, and the European Union. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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But concern remains high that the SDF could see its operational abilities divided as attacks from the Turkey-backed SNA coalition forces increase — which could spell trouble for the upcoming Trump administration as it looks to prevent another resurgence of ISIS, while balancing U.S. relations with Turkey, which is further expected to exercise outsized influence over the new Syrian government.
“We proceed to observe the state of affairs in Syria,” Brian Hughes, Trump-Vance Transition spokesperson said in response to questions from Fox News Digital. “President Trump is dedicated to diminishing threats to peace and stability within the Center East and to defending Individuals right here at residence.”
