Syrian Kurds Must Not Be Abandoned in Their Struggle Against Jihadist Forces

PUKMEDIA

Manish Rai, Geopolitical Analyst and Columnist for Middle-East.

Written by Manish Rai, Geopolitical Analyst and Columnist for Middle-East.

The militias associated with the Syrian government are conducting attacks on the Kurdish districts of Sheikh Maqsood, Ashrafiyah, and Beni Zeyd in Aleppo. The violence in Aleppo is the most severe since Syria’s Islamist authorities assumed power.

The recent outbreak of violence occurred two days subsequent to a high-level meeting in Damascus between a Syrian Democratic Forces delegation and Syrian government officials, which concluded without reaching an agreement, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish), responsible for the security of these predominantly Kurdish areas, stated that the jihadist forces affiliated with the Syrian government are conducting sustained and intensive bombardments using tanks, artillery, and drones on densely populated residential areas.

These neighbourhoods in Aleppo have been under a complete siege by government-affiliated forces from past several months. The Syrian government, led by Ahmad Al-Shaara, aims to exert pressure on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which continues to control approximately 25% of Syrian territory, by launching attacks on Kurdish neighbourhoods.

This outbreak of recent violence served as a disturbing reminder of the series of violent assaults inflicted upon Syrian religious and ethnic minorities since the current regime assumed power. The Syrian National Army (SNA), which is also affiliated with a coalition headed by President Ahmad Al-Shaara’s group Hayat Taheer Al-Sham (HTS), launched an attack against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria in December 2024.

Specifically, intense combat around the Tishreen Dam emerged as the central focus. In March, indiscriminate violence against Alawites occurred in the coastal regions of Syria, particularly in the city of Banias. Although precise numbers are challenging to confirm, over 1,300 people, predominantly Alawites, have lost their lives. In certain instances, complete families were executed without deliberation.

These atrocities were exclusively targeted at the Alawite minority and were incited by militias aligned with the new regime, ostensibly as a response to attacks in Latakia and Tartous carried out by armed groups associated with the ousted Assad regime. The Alawite community faced collective punishment in the name of fighting former President Bashar Al-Assad.

In June of last year, a church in the Syrian capital of Damascus was struck by a suicide bombing; this fatal incident resulted in the loss of 25 lives. The Syrian authorities attributed responsibility for the assault to the Islamic State (IS) group. Nevertheless, the relatively obscure Sunni extremist organisation, Saraya Ansar al-Sunnah, asserted responsibility for this assault.

Many analysts contend that this obscure organisation maintains strong connections with HTS, with their relationship extending back to prior to the collapse of the Bashar Al-Assad regime. Subsequently, it was purportedly affiliated with Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s broader coalition and assisted HTS in recruiting cells to operate within territory controlled by Assad. Examining the pattern of these past attacks, it is evident that they were executed either under the directives or with at least implicit sanction of the current Syrian regime.

The sole aim of these attacks was to suppress the minorities through intimidation, preventing them from asserting their political rights. The Kurdish people, frequently recognised as the largest unrecognized ethnic group globally, have endured centuries of marginalisation and persecution. Spread across Türkiye, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, the Kurds maintain a shared cultural, linguistic, and historical heritage, yet remain separated by political borders established following World War I.

In Syria, their circumstances have been notably severe, characterised by decades of repression and abandonment under the Arab nationalist Ba'ath regime. During the 1960s, many Syrian Kurds were deprived of their citizenship rights, resulting in their statelessness and denying them access to education, property ownership, and other essential rights. Representing approximately 10–15% of Syria’s population, Syrian Kurds have historically experienced greater marginalisation and invisibility compared to their counterparts in other countries.

Despite these obstacles, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) continues to serve as a vital partner of the West in the campaign against ISIS. The Syrian Democratic Forces have shouldered the primary burden of ground operations against ISIS and remain responsible for detaining thousands of ISIS operatives in facilities under their custody.

Conversely, Ahmad Al-Shaara’s group, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), adheres to the Salafist doctrinal perspective, which aligns with that of Al-Qaeda. HTS historically hosted a substantial presence of foreign terrorists, including Arabs, Turks, Chechens, Uzbeks, and Uyghurs from China’s Xinjiang province.

The group’s stance regarding heterodox minorities such as the Druze and Alawites has remained consistently unchanged. A lack of support for the Syrian Kurds could enable these perilous jihadist forces to disperse, thereby destabilising not only Syria but also the entire region.

Syrian Kurds serve as an effective counterbalance to jihadist forces in Syria, and they are not only defending their own interests but also engaging in a broader effort to safeguard the entire region. The Syrian Kurds serve as a symbol of liberalism and democracy within a region afflicted by authoritarianism and ongoing conflict.

Permitting this important partner of the West to fall prey to Jihadi expansionism would not only compromise the credibility of the West but also potentially embolden extremist factions. The global community must take prompt and decisive action to support the Syrian Kurds before it becomes too late.