The Syrian Army Transfers SDF Members from Al-Aqtan Prison to Ayn al-Arab

SadaNews - On Thursday evening, the Syrian army announced that military units have begun transferring members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from Al-Aqtan Prison and its surroundings in Raqqa province to the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), east of Aleppo.

The Syrian army's operations authority stated in a statement, "This step is the first in implementing the agreement of January 18, as the Ministry of Interior will take over the prison for its management."

The statement added that army forces will accompany SDF members to the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab.

Earlier on Thursday, Syria TV reported that the foreign ministry stated that the government would resort to military options if the Syrian Democratic Forces refused to implement the agreement concluded on January 18, after the expiration of the current four-day deadline that began on Tuesday.

For his part, Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed that the meeting he held with U.S. Ambassador Tom Barak and Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper in Iraq's Kurdistan region was fruitful.

Abdi described in a post on X platform, the support of Washington, Trump's policy, and Barak's efforts to return to dialogue with the Syrian government as "serious and important."

He also asserted that he would work with all possible means and seriously to achieve real integration and maintain the ceasefire.

Previously, the President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Nechirvan Barzani, received the commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi.

Reuters reported that the talks addressed a proposal regarding the withdrawal of Syrian forces and the SDF from the vicinity of Hasakah by ten kilometers.

Reuters quoted a Kurdish official as saying that there is strong American pressure on the SDF to implement the agreement.

She noted that the problem lies in the Kurds' lack of trust in the promises made by the Syrian government.

In exclusive statements to Al Arabiya, Kifah Mahmoud, an advisor to the President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party Masoud Barzani, said that both the SDF and the Syrian government and Washington are discussing an extension of the truce between Damascus and the SDF.