The Syrian Democratic Forces, tip of the spear in anti-jihadist fight

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, whose dissolution was announced by their leader Mazloum Abdi on Tuesday, were the Washington-backed de facto army of the Kurds’ autonomous administration in Syria and spearheaded the battle against jihadists.

The force was Syria’s most highly trained and organised for years, until Washington dropped them for the new US-friendly authorities in Damascus.

Experts say the SDF’s dissolution marks the end of an era for the country’s Kurds, who had long dreamt of autonomy before the 2024 fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad.

The force was formed in 2015 at the instigation of the United States, impressed by the Kurdish fighters who had defeated the Islamic State group in Kobane in the north, and seeking a reliable partner in the battle against the jihadists.

The SDF then led the battle against IS, which was defeated territorially in Syria four years later.

The force amassed around 100,000 fighters at its peak, was composed of Kurds and Arabs, and controlled swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast.

But following January clashes that saw the Kurds lose large chunks of territory to government troops, the two sides signed a deal to integrate Kurdish military and civilian institutions into the state.

Arabs within their ranks also defected en masse after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s army took control of two previously Kurdish-held provinces, Raqa and Deir Ezzor, leaving them weakened.

“Dissolving for SDF means a bitter end” for the Kurds, Mutlu Civiroglu, a Washington-based analyst and expert on the Kurds, told AFP, adding that it marked “the end of Kurdish strength in Syria”.

– PKK accusations –

The Kurdish force was also faced with repeated Turkish invasions between 2016 and 2019, with Ankara saying it wanted to push these fighters away from its border.

Turkey has long viewed the SDF as linked to the Kurdish militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which waged a decades-long insurgency in the country.

The SDF was dominated by the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militant group seen by Ankara as an extension of the PKK.

Following a call by its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey in May last year, drawing a line under four decades of violence that has claimed around 50,000 lives.

The People’s Protection Units denied any links with the PKK, but it was “indeed the PKK that directs the YPG behind the scenes”, Syria specialist Fabrice Balanche said before the SDF dissolution.

“The YPG was formed in 2011 by PKK veterans,” including SDF chief Abdi, Syria analyst Nanar Hawach of the International Crisis Group told AFP prior to Tuesday’s announcement.

The January agreement with Damascus, under which Kurdish fighters would be integrated into state structures, stipulates that the SDF commit to expelling all non-Syrian PKK leaders and members from the country.

“While limited in number, they have held significant influence in command and administrative roles,” Hawach told AFP, adding their numbers are estimated in the hundreds to low thousands.

In a speech earlier in August, Abdi acknowledged that “thousands of young Kurdish men and women” supported the SDF from “other parts of Kurdistan”, referring to areas of Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

He also affirmed that, “at our request and according to a practical plan, those forces withdrew from here, and we can say that a new phase has begun in this region.”

The SDF’s integration into the state is a major victory for Sharaa, who has been trying to cement control over all of Syria since Assad’s ousting.

bur-lar-nad/giv/dw/jfx/jhb