Agreement Between SDF and Damascus on Ceasefire, Army Refuses to Withdraw

SadaNews - After clashes and confrontations in various locations in the southeastern countryside of Raqqa, the Syrian government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to de-escalate.

Sources close to the Syrian forces revealed last Friday night that "after the escalation witnessed in the Maidan area in the southeastern countryside of Raqqa over the past few days, an agreement was reached between the Ministry of Defense and the SDF to cease fire and halt artillery shelling and mutual targeting between the two sides," according to the German news agency (dpa).

The sources also clarified that "the SDF demanded during the meeting held yesterday the withdrawal of the army from the sites it controlled, but this was rejected." They added that "the army regained the points that SDF elements infiltrated on the night of Wednesday to Thursday, where two army personnel were killed, and nine others were injured."

Additionally, it indicated that "the meeting was held in coordination between the army and the international coalition, which called for calm and commitment to the agreement of March 10.

This came after the front lines over the past two days witnessed infiltration operations and shelling with various types of heavy and medium weapons, in addition to targeting by drones and conflicts that were the most severe between the two sides, resulting in casualties and injuries on both sides.

Last Wednesday, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, announced that the implementation of the March agreement is still stalled, but he stressed at the same time that high-level meetings are ongoing to reach a consensus between the two sides. He pointed out that "there are challenges and obstacles and slow implementation of the agreement, a crisis of trust between the two sides, and that some clauses were overlooked, such as the file of the displaced from Afrin and others which pose a risk to the agreement," in his opinion.

It is worth mentioning that Abdi and the Syrian president Ahmad al-Shara signed on March 10, 2025, an agreement that stipulated integrating the SDF forces into the army, a ceasefire across all Syrian territories between the two sides, as well as recognizing the Kurdish community as an integral part of the state, ensuring their constitutional rights and full citizenship, in addition to the return of displaced persons to their towns and villages while providing protection for them, and rejecting calls for partition and enhancing the unity of Syrian territories.