This Week in Northern Syria [16.2025]

April 16 - 22: US limited withdrawal from Syria, new SDF al-Houl operation, one of the Abu Khawlahs resurfaces, and more...

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DAANES/SDF

04/16/25: Hawar reported that DAANES’s Western Region Council in Deir ez-Zor Province had begun setting up elected local communes (the name for the lowest level of organization in the DAANES system) and committees in the ‘seven villages’ - the small left bank pocket of the region previously controlled by the Syrian regime. According to figures provided by the Western Region Council co-chair almost 20,000 families have returned to the area since December though this figure seems quite high in comparison to those published last week by the Syrian Government for their half of the province.

04/18/25: SDF commander Mazloum ‘Abdi paid a visit to the Tishrin dam following the agreement reached last week with the Syrian government over its fate, saying that “today we confirm that the war phase is over, and we, as Syrians, will resort to dialogue to resolve all differences.” ‘Abdi also met with participants of the (continuing) DAANES-organized demonstration that has camped out on the dam for the last several months, facing several Turkish/SNA attacks early on. The same day an unprecedented joint patrol was reportedly carried out by the government’s General Security Department, the SDF, and Coalition forces along the M4 highway to al-Tirwaziyah near al-Raqqah/al-Hasakah border, along the SDF/SNA front lines approximately 125km into SDF territory from Tishrin dam.

(source)