Syria faces fragmentation amid clash between Interim government, Kurdish-Led SDF

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Syria faces fragmentation amid clash between Interim government, Kurdish-Led SDF

2026-01-18 17:03 Last Updated At：01-20 00:03

The road toward a unified Syria remains fraught with challenges, as the interim government seeks to prevent fragmentation amid religious and ethnic groups demanding varying degrees of autonomy.

Syrian interim leader Ahmad al-Sharaa on Friday issued a decree affirming the cultural, linguistic and civic rights of Syrian Kurds, as tensions rise between the authorities and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo and its eastern countryside.

On January 6, fighting broke out between the SDF and Syrian government forces over an area the SDF had controlled for years.

Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib said around 27,450 civilians have fled the Kurdish-held areas of Deir Hafir and Maskanah toward Aleppo city and its countryside in recent days due to the confrontations.

Although the SDF has announced its withdrawal from the enclave, the confrontation has signaled the risk of broader, localized violence across different parts of the country.

"The ideological background that the current government carries has created mistrust between the government and the other society components. It is crucial for the government to adopt a new policy and form a new social contract in cooperation with all the local communities," said Mazen Bilal, a political analyst in Damascus.

The Kurdish-led SDF controls a large swath of territory in northeastern Syria, accounting for roughly one-third of the country's total area.

The escalation highlights the fragility of the March 2025 agreement, which aims to integrate the SDF into state institutions and end parallel military control in northern Syria. Both the interim authorities and SDF have accused each other of violating the deal.

The U.S. brokering role in Syria has so far failed to deliver progress toward reunifying the country, with its approach widely described as inconsistent.

"What the Western powers care about in Syria is managing the risks, preventing the spread of chaos to Syria's neighboring countries, particularly Israel, so they try to contain the crises and keep a cautious calm only," said Bilal.

Shenzhou-23 astronauts board spaceship ahead of launch

The three astronauts of the Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceflight mission have boarded the spacecraft for a flight to China’s Tiangong space station.

The Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship is scheduled to blast off at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT) from northwest China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.

The three Chinese astronauts, commander Zhu Yangzhu, spacecraft pilot Zhang Zhiyuan and payload specialist Lai Ka-ying, climbed aboard the spaceship with the help of technicians.

Following the launch, the astronauts will complete an in-orbit rotation with the outgoing Shenzhou-21 crew, and one of them will conduct a one-year in-orbit stay, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

Notably, astronaut Lai Ka-ying is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program, and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.