ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United States is concerned that some groups remain outside of the control of Syria’s interim government, the Pentagon said in a report published this week. “Syria’s ability to consolidate control remained a concern for the United States, as some minority and opposition groups remained outside the government’s control,” said the latest report from the Lead Inspector General, covering the anti-Islamic State (ISIS) mission Operation Inherent Resolve from April 1 to June 30. Key minority groups in Syria continue to control large territories beyond the authority of the Islamist government in Damascus. These include the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) and the Druze minority in southern Suwayda province. Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that are the de facto army of Rojava, signed an agreement on March 10 to integrate all civil and military institutions of northeast Syria into federal structures. However, talks between them on implementing the agreement have stalled. The Kurds advocate for federalism, while Damascus wants a centralized power structure. Authorities in Rojava have also cited sectarian violence, such as recent unrest in Suwayda, as a reason to retain their own security forces. On July 13, clashes broke out in Suwayda between Druze fighters and Bedouin tribes. The violence escalated with the involvement of state forces and Israel. At least 1,300 people were killed, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, before a US-brokered ceasefire was announced. France will hold the next round of talks between the SDF and Damascus, though no date has been confirmed. The Pentagon report said US forces in Syria “continued to encourage and support negotiations between the SDF and Syrian government.” The US has begun a gradual drawdown of its troops in Syria. “In Syria, U.S. forces departed from three bases, a first step in a multi-phase consolidation plan,” the report said. In June, a US official told Rudaw that several hundred troops had been withdrawn with the goal of consolidating the remaining force at around 1,000 personnel. ISIS has sought to take advantage of the fragmented security landscape in Syria following the fall of the dictatorial regime of Bashar al-Assad, according to the report. “ISIS seeks to destabilize the new Syrian government,” it said. Another priority for the US is emptying the camps housing thousands of displaced Syrians. “The U.S. sought the return of displaced Syrians to their home communities,” the report noted. It said that 2,622 Iraqis were repatriated from the notorious al-Hol and Roj camps for suspected ISIS family members that together hold 30,800 people. The camps are located in Rojava’s Hasaka province and run by the SDF. On Thursday, the Kurdish-led administration in Rojava said that more than 230 Iraqi families had departed from al-Hol camp - the 28th such group - heading to al-Jada camp in Iraq’s northern Nineveh province for rehabilitation. Al-Hol is infamous for its dire conditions and has been described as a breeding ground for extremism. Since ISIS's territorial defeat in 2019, tens of thousands of individuals linked to the group - mostly Iraqis and Syrians - have remained there, alongside others from various countries who had traveled to join the jihadist caliphate. “Coalition forces supported SDF and Asayish [internal security forces] operations to suppress ISIS activity at the camps,” the Pentagon said.
