January 13 – 30, 2026 · Aleppo, Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor and Al-Hasakah Governorates Theater
January 13 – 30, 2026
On January 13, 2026, the transitional government launched a full offensive against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the last major armed authority outside its control. Beginning in eastern Aleppo Governorate around Dayr Hafir and Maskanah, it widened on January 17 into Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Al-Hasakah. Government forces took roughly 80 percent of the northeast within a fortnight — including the prison camps holding tens of thousands of suspected ISIS members and their families, whose custody had been the SDF's main claim on Western support. Reported casualties run to about 1,000 combatants and 152 civilians in the first week. A preliminary ceasefire held from January 18, and on January 30 a US-mediated agreement transferred administrative control of the region to Damascus, with SDF units to be integrated into the national army as whole formations.
Commanders