Several years ago, Syrian-Kurdish forces spearheaded the fight against ISIS’ self-proclaimed caliphate. They now believe that the lack of support from the global community has given the group an opportunity to become stronger.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which received air support from the United States during the 2019 offensive, are now serving as a sort of army in Kurdish-held areas in northeastern Syria.
On Wednesday, the SDF’s central command warned that countries that assisted them in 2019 should not leave the region now.
“The absence of a clear, comprehensive and long-term international plan led to more human and material losses, and allowed ISIS to strengthen its organization,” the statement said. ISIS is another acronym for IS.
Since March 2019, ISIS has not managed to occupy new territory in either Syria or Iraq, but they have occasionally carried out guerrilla-like attacks based on the group’s hideouts in the desert.
In January, they carried out a major attack on a prison in Hasakah. Many ISIS fighters are said to have fled, and at least 370 people have died.
The SDF is also highly critical of countries that still do not want to bring their own citizens home from prison camps in Kurdish-controlled areas. Among the detainees were ISIS fighters, women and children.
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