Tensions Rise Between Damascus and "SDF": Security Alert in Raqqa and Mutual Military Movements

On Monday evening, the city of Raqqa witnessed a wide security alert for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Internal Security Forces (Asayish), covering all checkpoints and main entrances, amid the absence of any official clarification regarding the reasons for this deployment.

This development comes one day after the Syrian army sent large military reinforcements to the eastern countryside of Aleppo and Raqqa, where informed sources reported that the Ministry of Defense dispatched elements from the 60th and 76th divisions to the areas of Tishrin Dam and Deir Hafer in the countryside of Aleppo, in addition to the Al-Zumla area south of Raqqa, following repeated attacks on their positions there by the "SDF".

According to the sources, these movements came in the wake of what Damascus considered a "coup" by the "SDF" against the agreement of March 10, and the outcomes of the conference held by the latter on Friday in Hasakah, suggesting that military options may be on the table to regain areas east of the Euphrates.

In contrast, a delegation from the "SDF" arrived in Damascus to begin a new round of discussions regarding the implementation of the agreement's terms, without revealing details of the proposed files or the duration of the visit.

This activity coincided with the announcement by the Syrian government on Saturday to cancel a meeting that was scheduled in Paris between its delegation and a delegation from the "SDF", following the Hasakah conference organized by the latter in areas under its control in the northeast of the country.