BEIRUT: US Central Command said its chief met with Kurdish-led forces in northeast Syria and urged the repatriation of foreign Daesh fighters, as Kurds battle Turkiye-backed groups in the region.
General Michael Kurilla met US military commanders and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on Thursday “to get an assessment” of efforts to defeat Daesh and prevent its regional resurgence, as well as “the evolving situation in Syria,” CENTCOM said in a statement.
The United States and other Western countries as well as Syria’s neighbors have emphasized the need for the country’s new rulers to combat “terrorism and extremism.”
Supported by Washington, the SDF spearheaded the military campaign that ousted Daesh (also known as IS) group jihadists from Syria in 2019 and controls dozens of prisons and camps where thousands of militants and their suspected relatives, including foreigners, are held.
SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said in a statement that he met Kurilla “recently” for a meeting that “was crucial for assessing Syria’s current situation and joint operations” against Daesh.
The SDF “reaffirmed the importance of strengthening partnerships and the critical role of the US in achieving a permanent ceasefire in Northeast Syria and ensuring security and stability across the entire country,” he added.
CENTCOM, which oversees US military operations in the Middle East, said Kurilla visited the Al-Hol camp which, together with a smaller facility, houses more than 40,000 people, many of them with ties to Daesh.
It added that “without international repatriation, rehabilitation, and reintegration efforts,” such camps “risk creating the next generation” of Islamic State members.
An additional 9,000 Daesh detainees “from over 50 different countries remain in over a dozen SDF guarded detention facilities in Syria,” CENTCOM said.
Neighbouring Turkiye, a key backer of Islamist-led rebels who ousted longtime Syrian ruler Bashar Assad last month, sees the main component of the SDF, the YPG People’s Protection Units, as affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Both Turkiye and the United States consider the PKK a “terrorist” group. It has waged a decades-long insurgency on Turkish soil.
Turkiye has been threatening to launch a military operation against the SDF, prompting US-led diplomatic efforts to avert a major confrontation even as fighting continues.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor said Friday that battles between the SDF and Turkiye-backed fighters in the Manbij region and near a strategic dam had killed 401 people since December 12, most of them combatants.
Turkiye has offered Syria’s new leadership operational support in the fight against jihadist groups, and even offered to help run prisons holding IS fighters.
Earlier this month, the SDF said it held talks with Syria’s new authorities and expressed support for Syrian “unity.”
During a visit to Ankara this week, Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shaibani said Syria would never allow its territory to be used as a staging ground for threats against Turkiye.
Syria would “work on removing these threats,” he said, referring to the SDF, the de-facto army of the semi-autonomous Kurdish-led administration that controls swathes of northeastern Syria.
On Thursday in Iraq, Abdi met Masoud Barzani, who heads the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan region, a statement from Barzani’s office said.
It noted the need for Syria’s Kurds “to reach understandings and agreements with the new authorities.”
The United States maintains troops in northern Syria as part of an anti-jihadist coalition.
