Syria extended a ceasefire with Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for 15 days late Saturday, citing the need to support a US-led effort to transfer Islamic State (ISIS) detainees from prisons in northeastern Syria to Iraq, according to an official statement.
At 11:00 p.m. local time (2000 GMT) the ceasefire took effect and applies “across all sectors of Syrian army operations,” the Syrian defense authority said. Both Damascus and SDF confirmed the renewed pause after an earlier four-day truce expired the same night.
Islamic State detainees are being relocated from facilities previously run by the SDF. International efforts have focused on securing those detention sites and preventing a breakdown in stability in areas where thousands of ISIS suspects are held.
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The ceasefire renewal comes amid sharp accusations from both sides. Earlier Saturday, the Syrian army’s operations authority alleged that the SDF had brought reinforcements from Kurdistan Workers’ Party elements based in Iraq’s Qandil Mountains into Hasakah province, warning that such movements threatened regional stability.
SDF officials responded that government forces were preparing for escalation. In a statement issued Saturday evening, the group said Syrian troops were conducting “systematic military preparations and logistical movements” in the Jazira region and around Kobani. The SDF also said its forces had been targeted in two separate incidents during the day, calling them clear violations of the truce.
Syrian foreign affairs official Mohammad Taha al-Ahmad told state media there had been no positive response from the SDF to government proposals, accusing the group of repeatedly seeking truces to buy time.
Tensions have intensified in recent weeks near key detention sites as government troops advanced across northern and eastern areas previously controlled by the SDF. The latest flare-ups followed a fragile arrangement that envisioned SDF withdrawals from areas west of the Euphrates River and the return of state institutions. Disputes over how and when that withdrawal would occur quickly reignited clashes, prompting renewed international concern over the ceasefire’s durability.