Trump may face renewed ISIS threat in Syria as US warns group ‘loves vacuums’
Concerns about the resurgence of the Islamic State in Syria remain acute following the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime and the increase in attacks targeting the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
President-elect Donald Trump may face another round against the extremist group as the SDF faces the reality that it may have to split its focus between ISIS and the threats posed to it by Turkey.
The SDF said five of its soldiers were killed on Saturday in an attack by Turkish-backed forces in northern Syria, Reuters reported.
Anti-regime forces stand by the side of the road as Syrian Kurds flee in trucks on the Aleppo-Raqqa highway fleeing the outskirts of the northern city of Aleppo previously controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). , after they were taken over by Islamist-led rebels on Dec. 2. 2024. (RAMI AL SAYED/AFP via Getty Images)
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The attack comes after an apparent collapse in a ceasefire deal brokered by the Biden administration as the US and the SDF ramp up efforts to fight ISIS.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday told CNN that his “one biggest concern” is the return of ISIS, which was deemed “defeated” in 2019.
“ISIS loves spaces,” he said, referring to the extremist group’s use of power struggles in places like North Africa to gain a foothold. “What we are seeing in Syria right now are areas that are not governed because of the fall of the Assad regime.
“Our goal is to make sure that we support the SDF – the Kurds – and that we contain ISIS,” he added.
Comrades attend the funeral of five Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters killed in Manbij during clashes with Turkish-backed opposition groups earlier this week, in Qamishli in northeastern Syria on December 14, 2024. (DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)
The US has long had to balance its campaign against ISIS in Syria – which it is fighting with the help of Kurdish coalition forces, despite Turkey viewing the SDF as a terrorist network of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – with Washington. Ankara as a NATO partner.
“The SDF and the Assad regime were the main opponents of ISIS,” Bill Roggio, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and founding editor of “The Long War Journal,” told Fox News Digital. “With the former gone and the latter under pressure from Turkish proxies, concerns about the rise of ISIS are justified.”
“Turkey wants to destroy the SDF,” Roggio confirmed. “Turkey has a good chance to destroy the SDF, and it will use this unique situation. I expect an attack[s] against the SDF expansion.”
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The Biden administration has already taken steps to step up its campaign against ISIS, hitting more than 75 sites in a critical strike earlier this month against known ISIS leaders, operatives and camps,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed.
A soldier from the US-led coalition touches school children during a joint US-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)-led operation in the countryside of Qamishli in northeastern Syria on February 8, 2024. (Reuters/Orhan Qereman)
The work coincided with the fall of Damascus on 8 Dec. following the capture of Aleppo, Hama and Homs by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which was aided by the Turkish-backed Sy’an National Army (SNA).
In addition, CENTCOM on Thursday killed ISIS leader Abu Yusif aka Mahmud using a precision airstrike in eastern Syria – an area where, according to Syrian media, ISIS was able to seize weapons depots belonging to the former Syrian army under the Assad regime during – Assad. “chaos.”
SDF forces in an effort to reduce the insurgency of ISIS captured 18 ISIS terrorists and their suspected collaborators on Sunday near the city of Raqqa, which was once an ISIS stronghold, according to ANF News.
The operation is reportedly being carried out “in cooperation with international coalition forces,” but CENTCOM has not confirmed whether the US is involved.
US forces provide military training to members of the YPG/SDF, which Turkey considers an extension of the PKK in Syria, in Qamisli district of Al-Hasakah province, Syria on Aug. 18, 2023. PKK designated as terrorist. the organization is the United States, Turkey, and the European Union. (Hedil Amir/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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But concerns remain high that the SDF could see its operational capabilities fall apart as attacks from Turkey-backed SNA coalition forces escalate — which could pose a problem for the incoming Trump administration as it looks to prevent another resurgence of ISIS, while balancing US-Turkey relations. , which is also expected to have a major impact on the new Syrian government.
“We continue to monitor the situation in Syria,” said Brian Hughes, a Trump-Vance Transition spokesman in response to questions from Fox News Digital. “President Trump is committed to reducing threats to peace and stability in the Middle East and to protecting the American people here at home.”
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