US bombs hit 35 ISIS targets while the Kurds surrender to the government in Aleppo. At least for the moment. In Syria, for a front that seems to be cooling down, there is another that suddenly reignites: after days of clashes, the Kurds of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have desisted from armed resistance in some neighborhoods of the country’s second city, leaving control to the soldiers of Ahmad Sharaa’s national government. Meanwhile, in other areas, Washington has returned to banging its fist on the table against the Islamic State.
The US strategy: large-scale raid against ISIS
The “large-scale” raids conducted over the weekend by the US, with the support of Jordan, are part of the strategy of “continuous commitment to eradicate Islamic terrorism” in the region, according to a statement from the US Central Command (Centcom). The action, adds the note, complements that launched last December 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans by ISIS in Palmyra. At that time the targets hit by the US were over 70. In this case they were half that number. «Our message stay strong: if you harm our military, we will find you and kill you anywhere in the world”, says the Centcom statement, in tones similar to those used by President Donald Trump in December, according to which anyone who attacks or threatens the United States “will be hit harder than ever”.
The persistence of the threat from the Islamic State
The latest attacks turn the spotlight back on ISIS in Syria as has already happened with input from Western powers at least once in the recent past: last January 3, London and Paris attacked a target attributed to the Islamic State. Despite its defeat by an international coalition in 2019, after having occupied vast territories, cells of its fighters remain present and active in the country: a fact that evidently continues to worry the USA and its allies.
Tensions and unknowns in northern Syria
In Aleppo, meanwhile, government forces evacuated over 400 Kurdish fighters from the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood, the last bastion from which the SFD held up the resistance in the city to military pressure before surrendering to favor the plan that provides for their integration into national institutions under the leadership of Shaara. After the clashes of recent days had caused, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 105 deaths among civilians and combatants, another 300 Kurds were arrested, while part of the 150,000 displaced citizens were able to return home. However, it is not yet clear whether this apparent return to calm is destined to last: from the areas of north-eastern Syria where the SFD have retreated, reports the AFP, promises of “revenge” for the events in Aleppo and slogans against Sharaa and its supporter Ankara are already being raised.