As the government moves to assert control over areas under Kurdish rule, it will be the latest test of President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s pledge to form an inclusive administration that empowers minorities.
Syrian soldiers entering the city of Raqqa, on Sunday. After months of stalled negotiations with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the government made a military push into Kurdish-held territory last week.
New tensions flared a day after a Kurdish-led militia agreed to hand over control of prisons holding some 8,000 Islamic State fighters to the Syrian government.
Soldiers of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces deployed near the Gweiran Prison, which houses men accused of being Islamic State fighters, in Hasakah Province, northeastern Syria, on Monday.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s announcement on Friday came after days of fighting between the government and Kurdish forces. On Saturday, those forces began withdrawing from a flashpoint east of Aleppo.