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Syria Tightens Grip After Kurdish Pullback, Says ISIS Prisoners Escape

A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
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Syria Tightens Grip After Kurdish Pullback, Says ISIS Prisoners Escape

A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of Syrian military police stands guard near Raqqa prison, after the army took control of the city of Raqqa, Syria January 19, 2026. (Reuters)

Syrian government troops tightened their grip on Monday across a swathe of northern and eastern territory after it was abruptly abandoned by Kurdish forces in a dramatic shift that has consolidated President Ahmed al-Sharaa's rule. 

A day after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), once the main US ally in Syria, agreed to quit large areas under a ceasefire, the Syrian army said "a number of" ISIS militants had escaped a prison that had been under SDF control in the eastern city of Shaddadi, accusing the SDF of releasing them. 

The SDF said it had lost control of the prison following an attack by government fighters. The Syrian army denied attacking the jail and said its forces would work to secure the prison and re-arrest the escapees. 

The SDF said Shaddadi prison had held thousands of militants. The army did not say how many ISIS detainees had fled. 

The SDF withdrawals mark the biggest change in Syria's control map since fighters led by Sharaa toppled President Bashar al-Assad in 2024, tilting the power balance Sharaa's way after months of deadlock in talks with the SDF over government demands its forces merge fully with Damascus.  

After days ‌of fighting with ‌government forces, the SDF agreed on Sunday to withdraw from both Raqqa and Deir al-Zor - two Arab-majority ‌provinces ⁠they had controlled for ‌years and the location of Syria's main oil fields. 

GOVERNMENT TROOPS DEPLOY AT OILFIELD, IN RAQQA 

Türkiye, which has repeatedly sent forces into northern Syria to curb Kurdish power since 2016, welcomed the deal signed by its ally Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the swift implementation of the agreement that requires the full integration of Kurdish fighters into Syria's armed forces. 

The SDF, spearheaded by the Kurdish YPG militia, had established control of a quarter or more of Syria during the 2011-2024 civil war, whilst fighting with the support of US troops against ISIS. The United States, which has since established close ties with Sharaa under President Donald Trump, has been closely involved in mediation between the sides. 

The SDF media office said in a statement that the prison at Shaddadi - one of ⁠three under its control in the Hasakah region - had come under repeated attack by "Damascus factions", and that dozens of SDF fighters were killed or wounded defending it. 

The statement added that the ‌US-led coalition against ISIS had not intervened despite repeated appeals to a nearby coalition base. The ‍US military's Central Command did not immediately respond to an emailed ‍request for comment. 

In its denial of the SDF account, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said army forces had bypassed Shaddadi, in line with deployment ‍plans, and offered aid to SDF forces inside. The Syrian army announced it had established control over the city of Shaddadi and the prison. 

The Syrian Defense Ministry also denied an SDF account of clashes between government and SDF forces near a jail in Raqqa, which the SDF said was holding ISIS inmates. It said the army had arrived "at the vicinity of al-Aqtan prison ... and began securing it and its surroundings despite the presence of SDF forces inside". 

The SDF said nine of its fighters were killed and 20 wounded in clashes around al-Aqtan. 

Hasakah province, which largely remains under SDF control, is home to the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, the main prisons holding ISIS detainees, and a camp holding thousands of IS-linked prisoners. 

GOVERNMENT FORCES DEPLOY 

Reuters journalists saw ⁠government forces deployed in the city of Raqqa that the SDF had captured from ISIS in 2017, and at oil and gas facilities in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor - both areas the Kurdish forces had held for years. 

It follows the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from districts of Aleppo city they had controlled for years after fighting there earlier this month. 

The 14-point deal published by Syria's presidency showed Abdi's signature alongside Sharaa's. 

It stipulates that the prisons, along with all border crossings and oil and gas fields, would be handed to government control - steps the SDF had long resisted. 

The timing of the handover of the prisons and camps was not announced. 

Abdi, the SDF commander, confirmed on Sunday that the SDF had agreed to withdraw from Deir Ezzor and Raqqa provinces. 

Abdi said he is set to meet Sharaa in Damascus on Monday and would share the details of the agreement with the public after his return to SDF-held territory, Kurdish media reported. 

The deal says that all SDF forces will be merged into the defense and interior ministries as "individuals" and not as units, as the SDF had sought. 

It commits the SDF to expel all non-Syrian figures affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a Kurdish militant group which fought a decades-long insurgency in Türkiye. 

Senior figures ‌from Erdogan’s ruling AK Party said this removed a major obstacle to Türkiye’s peace process with PKK militants. 

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Arab World

Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Army Kills Teen in West Bank

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinian Authorities Say Israeli Army Kills Teen in West Bank

Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)
Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Islam Ajouri, 14, at Rafidia Hospital in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on August 23, 2026. (Photo by JAAFAR ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Israel's military killed a Palestinian teenager in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, Palestinian health authorities said, while an Israeli and a Palestinian were wounded in separate incidents.

Israeli gunfire killed Islam Ahmad Maher Ajouri, 14, in the Askar refugee camp where he lived, outside Nablus in the north of the West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry announced.

Mohammed Abu Kashk, head of the Askar camp services committee, told AFP that the teenager was killed by Israeli forces during a raid on the camp.

"There were no clashes or confrontations that would justify shooting a child and killing him," he said.

According to a source from the Palestinian Red Crescent, Ajouri was hit in the chest by live ammunition. He was pronounced dead at Nablus National Hospital.

At his funeral, his uncle Ahmed Mohamed Zamzoum told AFP that the boy went outside during the army raid. "Every time the Israeli forces enter, one or more martyrs are killed," he said.

The Israeli army told AFP it was verifying the information.

In a separate incident, the army said it apprehended a man suspected of stabbing an Israeli earlier on Sunday in Al-Auja, in the central West Bank.

Israeli rescue service Magen David Adom said the 24-year-old victim had "a penetrating wound".

The man was evacuated to a hospital in Jerusalem, and his condition was described as "moderate".

According to the initial findings of the investigation, the victim parked near a shopping center and was "attacked from behind and stabbed in the shoulder", Israeli police said in a statement.

Hani Najum, the head of the Al-Auja village council, told AFP that "the Israeli army raided the village, deployed in its streets" and imposed a curfew.

In a third incident, the army reported that a "terrorist" attempted "to steal a weapon from an IDF soldier" near the Palestinian town of Taybeh, northeast of Ramallah, and that forces opened fire at the man, saying he was "neutralized".

Palestinian sources told AFP that the man, Aws Akram Maatan, from the village of Burqa east of Ramallah, suffered an injury to his foot and was taken to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment.

The head of the Burqa village council, Sayel Kanaan, said in a statement that Maatan had been shot "without justification".

Violence has surged in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, since the start of the war in Gaza sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel.

Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians since then, according to an AFP tally based on data from the Palestinian health ministry.

Over the same period, at least 48 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.

Arab World

Tunisia Says Recovered 11 Migrants' Drowned Bodies

African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)
African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)
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Tunisia Says Recovered 11 Migrants' Drowned Bodies

African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)
African migrants rescued by the Tunisian coast guard in October (AFP)

The Tunisian national guard said Sunday it recovered 11 bodies from the sea after a boat carrying migrants sank off the country's southeastern coast, with three people still missing.

The boat was carrying 15 people, only one of whom was rescued after it sank some 14 nautical miles off the shore of Zarzis on Friday night.

"Search operations resulted in the recovery of three bodies yesterday and eight bodies today, bringing the total to 11," the national guard said in a statement.

Searches for the three remaining missing passengers were ongoing, it added.

On Saturday night, residents in Ben Guerdane -- the marginalized city near the Libyan border where 14 of the migrants were from -- staged protests, blocking roads and setting tires on fire over the shipwreck.

Tunisia, whose coast is some 145 kilometers (90 miles) from the Italian island of Lampedusa, is a key departure point for migrants seeking to make the perilous journey across the Mediterranean in search of better lives in Europe.

The central Mediterranean crossing is the deadliest migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The IOM said earlier this month that the number of migrant deaths on the central Mediterranean route had more than doubled in the first four months of 2026 compared to the same period last year.

At least 914 migrants have died or gone missing along the route this year, according to the IOM.

In 2023, Tunisia signed a 255-million-euro ($290 million) deal with the European Union, nearly half of which was earmarked for tackling irregular migration.

The deal, strongly supported by Italy's hard-right government, aimed to bolster Tunisia's capacity to prevent boats leaving its shore.
 

Arab World

The 'Ali al-Taher' Battle: A Test of Hezbollah’s Capabilities

A protester shouts slogans while holding a portrait of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the backdrop of Lebanon-Israel talks and the normalization of relations, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A protester shouts slogans while holding a portrait of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the backdrop of Lebanon-Israel talks and the normalization of relations, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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The 'Ali al-Taher' Battle: A Test of Hezbollah’s Capabilities

A protester shouts slogans while holding a portrait of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the backdrop of Lebanon-Israel talks and the normalization of relations, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A protester shouts slogans while holding a portrait of the late Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during a protest against the backdrop of Lebanon-Israel talks and the normalization of relations, in Beirut, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

The battle for the “Ali al-Taher” heights is placing Hezbollah before a difficult test that goes beyond its ability to defend the hill and prevent its fall. It also tests the effectiveness of the military strategies it has recently developed after conventional strategies failed over the past two years to counter Israel’s military and technological superiority.

Can Israel, through firepower, air power and surveillance, suffocate the force deployed in the area and undermine the conditions needed for its survival? Or can the underground fortifications, tunnels, storage facilities and combat capabilities prepared by Hezbollah give it room to continue wearing down Israeli forces and prolong the confrontation?

Ability to Maneuver

Retired Brigadier General Bahaa Hallal says that, regarding Hezbollah’s military position, “the land still has strategic value for it, but its defensive value automatically declines if it shifts from a controlled area to an exposed area under surveillance.” He explains: “The party’s core strength is not simply holding the hilltop, but its ability to operate in depth and particularly in the surrounding area, while Israel seeks to turn its air and intelligence superiority into permanent ground superiority.”

Hallal told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the main challenge facing Hezbollah is maintaining its ability to maneuver. If Israel manages to establish a presence, impose a buffer zone around the hill and prevent the party from moving, the balance of power will gradually begin to shift in its favor.”

In this context, underground fortifications are among the most important tools available to the defender. They can reduce the impact of air superiority, preserve a degree of continuity and survivability, and prevent the battle from being decided simply by control of the ground surface. Hallal cautions, however, that fortifications that provide protection from bombardment can become a burden if the area around them becomes besieged or isolated.

Isolated Pockets?

According to Hallal, this raises the central question in the “Ali al-Taher” battle: “Do the underground facilities still constitute an integrated network for maneuvering and communication, or have they become isolated pockets?”

Hallal says the ability to make decisions, communicate and implement them, while maintaining communication channels under pressure, will be among the main challenges facing Hezbollah. However, Hezbollah’s model, historically based on a degree of decentralization and flexibility, may mean that targeting a local position or commander would not necessarily be enough to bring down the entire system.

Hallal says the party’s strengths include geographical knowledge, organizational depth, the ability to exploit the mountainous terrain, and the capacity to continue operating despite losing positions. By contrast, he identifies Israel’s superiority in surveillance and air power, as well as the risk of isolation, as its main weaknesses.

He says that if Israel succeeds in separating “Ali al-Taher” from Hezbollah’s broader operational theater, the force there will face a more difficult defensive situation. He also considers the destruction of villages, roads and homes to be a major strategic pressure because it strikes part of the social and geographical environment in which any local force operates.

A Network of Tunnels

Retired Brigadier General George Nader describes the “Ali al-Taher” hill as being of major tactical importance because it overlooks a wide area north of the Litani River and large parts of the area south of it. He also points to its historical significance, as it was previously under Israeli occupation.

Nader told Asharq Al-Awsat that, according to the information on which he relies, the hill is an important position for the command of the Radwan Forces. It contains underground facilities and a network of tunnels linked to ammunition, logistics, missiles, drones, fighters and operations rooms.

A Bargaining Chip in Negotiations

Nader believes that Israeli control of the hill would give Israel greater leverage and a greater ability to impose its terms in future rounds of negotiations, particularly if it manages to turn military control into an established reality on the ground.

He believes Israel’s destructive and technological capabilities make the targeting of these facilities and tunnels a possibility, warning that the presence of large quantities of ammunition and missiles in the area could mean that any large-scale destruction operation would have major repercussions.

Major Israeli Attack

Based on this, Nader expects a major Israeli attack to seize the hill, considering that the objective could have political implications for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who seeks to use control of the site to demonstrate that he has succeeded in striking Hezbollah’s command center in the south, thereby enhancing the security of the northern settlements on the eve of Israeli electoral events.

As for Hezbollah’s options in response, Nader believes they appear limited given the difficulty of movement south of the Litani River. This, in his assessment, makes it difficult to divert Israeli forces or force them to disperse their efforts by opening other fronts of movement in the area.