Published on January 18, 2026
Government forces have captured a strategic town in eastern Syria, part of an ongoing offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) east of the Euphrates River.
Sunday’s swift military operation follows fighting between Damascus and the United States-backed SDF earlier this month, which led to deadly clashes and the government’s seizure of three neighborhoods in Aleppo city from the group.
Sunday’s advance in Tabqa, Raqqa province, is considered critical because a nearby dam controls the southward flow of water into SDF-held areas.
The government and the SDF have exchanged accusations of violating a March agreement aimed at reintegrating northeastern Syria and Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian state structure.
The SDF controls large parts of northeastern Syria and has been Washington’s key ally in the fight against the ISIL (ISIS) group for years. During that period, the US has developed strong ties with the SDF and has sought to ease tensions between the two sides.
The US has called for peace after clashes in Aleppo this month killed 23 people and displaced thousands. After the fighting subsided, SDF leader Majlum Abdi (also known as Majlum Kobani) said on Friday that the group would withdraw its forces from the east of the Euphrates following an announcement by the Syrian official al-Shara on measures to strengthen Kurdish rights in Syria.
Tabqa is the latest in a series of mostly Arab-majority areas in Raqqa province to be captured by government forces. It remains unclear how far the Syrian army intends to advance into the Kurdish heartland.
Meanwhile, the Syrian government has accused the SDF of executing prisoners in Tabqa before withdrawing.
The SDF has denied the allegation, saying it moved prisoners out of the prison and accusing government forces of shelling the facility.
The United Kingdom-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights war monitor reported that government forces have captured more than a dozen villages and towns in the eastern Deir ez-Zor countryside following the SDF’s withdrawal.