Anticipated Meeting Between Mazloum Abdi and the American Envoy .. Conflicting Reports About the Location

Mazloum Abdi, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), left the area east of the Euphrates River on Tuesday evening, aboard an American helicopter accompanied by two additional helicopters.

Three American helicopters departed from the "Al-Wazir" military base in the countryside of Al-Hasakah province in Syria, where the US-led international coalition forces are stationed to fight ISIS in Syria and Iraq.

Although expectations pointed to Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, as the expected meeting place between Abdi and the American envoy to Syria, Tom Brak, new information revealed a change in the meeting location. Erbil was not the destination of the helicopters as expected, while reports conflicted about the meeting place.

The helicopters headed towards the Syrian capital, Damascus, but their landing there was not confirmed, raising the possibility that the meeting between Abdi and Brak would take place outside the Syrian capital.

Sources also revealed that a high-level delegation from the SDF is accompanying Abdi, and it is expected that they will meet with the American envoy in the coming hours.

A diplomatic source from Damascus indicated that Brak is likely to arrive in the Syrian capital on Wednesday.

The meeting comes two days after the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) announced allocating $130 million from the 2026 budget to support the SDF and affiliated groups like the Free Syrian Army, as part of the fight against ISIS.

A source close to the SDF had previously clarified that the meeting between Abdi and Brak would primarily focus on the file of combating ISIS and how to implement the March 10th agreement signed by the SDF commander with Syrian President Ahmed al-Shar'a, indicating that the American envoy may push Abdi and the Syrian president to update the existing agreement or propose a new one with support.

Brak will also discuss with Abdi other issues, including continuing cooperation between the international coalition and the SDF in the war against ISIS, and the relationship with Turkey, according to the source close to the SDF.

The source also revealed that the American envoy had expressed his concerns to Abdi earlier about the "collapse of the security situation in Syria" due to recent ISIS movements, during a phone call between them weeks ago.