ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Top Kurdistan Region leaders warned on Tuesday that clashes between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) threaten regional stability and the resurgence of Islamic State (ISIS.)
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) leader Masoud Barzani and Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani pressed for international intervention and said Kurdish leaders were prepared to assist in mediating a ceasefire as Syrian forces advanced on Kurdish-held territory including former ISIS strongholds in Syria.
“We in the Kurdistan Region view with great concern the ongoing clashes and military confrontations between the Syrian Army forces and the SDF,” Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani said in a statement. “The continuation of the fighting and conflict poses a serious threat to the peace and stability of Syria and the region as a whole, and raises the risk of an ISIS resurgence,” he added.
He noted that Kurdistan Region officials were engaging in diplomatic efforts to end the violence.
“Since the onset of these tensions, we have been in constant contact with regional and international parties to halt the conflict and promote dialogue and understanding for a peaceful resolution to these issues,” he said.
"War and military confrontation do not solve any problems; they only further complicate the situation,” he maintained.
Ceasefire collapse
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa announced an agreement with the SDF to place Kurdish-run oil fields, territory and prisons under central government control on Sunday without providing a timeline or plans. Hours later, a ceasefire collapsed as the SDF said it was coming under attack from Damascus-allied armed groups who were seizing control of towns, oil fields, prisons, a major dam and other infrastructure as they advanced on the Kurdish-held northeast.
Nechirvan Barzani urged the US-led international military coalition against ISIS, which allied with the SDF to defeat and contain ISIS in Syria for over a decade, to intervene.
“We call upon the International Coalition to fulfill its duty in maintaining stability and preventing the re-emergence of ISIS,” he said.