Kurdish forces in Syria announced freezing their operations against the Islamic State (IS). The military formations that control the northeast of the country were the main partners of the United States "on the ground" in the fight against terrorism, but now their efforts are fully focused on repelling attacks by groups close to Turkey. The fragile situation that has developed in Syria since the fall of Damascus creates a comfortable environment for supporters of the caliphate. 

The announcement of the freeze on anti-terrorist raids was made by Mazlum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a coalition dominated by Kurdish forces. "Currently, joint (with the United States - Kommersant) operations against IS have been suspended. This is not a decision, but a military reality," the military leader said in an interview with Sky News. According to him, if the militants of the Syrian National Army, a Turkish-led opposition alliance, do not stop their attacks on the SDF-controlled northeast of Syria, anti-terrorist operations can be forgotten.

The desperate situation in which the SDF found itself after the fall of Damascus is highlighted by their attempts to gain support from Israel, a country that does not have a border with the autonomous region. According to Israel Hayom, the authorities of the Jewish state received an official request from the SDF to open military support lines, but have not yet come to a consensus on whether to intervene in what is happening.

The Kurds' main concerns are related to the possible withdrawal of almost 900 American troops stationed in their region.

 

It was the joint operations with the United States against ISIS that provided the fragile legitimacy for the autonomy. The outgoing US presidential administration admits that the adherents of global jihad can take advantage of the situation in Syria and "restore their capabilities." But the fate of the SDF largely depends on the approaches to this issue taken by the team of US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20.

In its weekly Al-Naba, the central administration of ISIS stated that it does not recognize the new government in Damascus. The terrorist organization is an ideological opponent of those groups that crushed the government of Bashar al-Assad on the night of December 8.

Until now, ISIS has limited itself to sabotage sorties from its hideouts in the Syrian desert. However, it is now assumed that the group will try to take control of a number of areas.

Tension in the Middle East traditionally creates comfortable conditions for ISIS. Thus, the group's propagandists tried to use the consequences of the war in the Gaza Strip that began a year ago "to mobilize potential lone terrorists." This was stated in one of the reports of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

The first signs of mobilization have so far been shown by a branch of the global terrorist organization operating in Afghanistan. We are talking about the so-called "Vilayat Khorasan". It was its militants who were blamed for the assassination of Afghan Minister for Refugees Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani on Wednesday.

The suicide attack was the first attempt on the life of a minister in the Taliban government since 2021, when the movement seized power.

In a conversation with Kommersant, a research fellow at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and director of the Center for the Study of Modern Afghanistan Omar Nessar did not, however, link the terrorist attack in Kabul with the general situation in the Middle East. "The murder of the well-protected Haqqani raises many questions about the capacity and capabilities of ISIS in Afghanistan. To carry out such an attack it was at least necessary to have information about the movements of this person." According to the expert, the incident may indicate the penetration of ISKP into the ranks of the Taliban.

This year, the UN Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team noted that ISKP adherents began to use a radically new, adaptive tactic in Afghanistan: working “undercover in major cities, including Kabul” and penetrating “the main ministries of the de facto government.” Among the most unsafe departments from this point of view, UN experts named the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and the General Directorate of Intelligence of Afghanistan.

Thus, the question arises whether the global group can adapt this tactic to Syrian context, especially given the embryonic state of the new authorities in Damascus and the extremely chaotic state of the groups that conquered it.