Drop Site News
Jan 20, 2026

On Sunday, January 18, the text of a reported agreement between the Syrian central government based in Damascus, and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began circulating on social media and local news channels.

The agreement was intended to be signed after a meeting between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi in Damascus that would avert a long-feared, all-out war between the two sides.

It was wishful thinking. The meeting, and along with it the tenuous ceasefire, collapsed. The government had demanded full and immediate handover of SDF-held territory to its control, the disbandment of the SDF as an armed force, and liquidation of independent civil institutions—steps the SDF was unwilling to take. Instead, local Arab tribes formerly allied to the group, which had recently switched allegiances and joined the government, pressed forward with attacks on SDF positions. SDF officials accused Syrian government aligned forces of executing captives and vowed to resist the onslaught, with officials sharing a video that they said depicted the partial beheading of SDF fighters.

“Total War For Survival”: Syria’s SDF Prepares for Showdown With Damascus

The Syrian government has been pressing forward with an offensive against the SDF alongside tenuous negotiations for a ceasefire in northeastern Syria.

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