Members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) queue to settle their status with Syrian government in Raqqa, Syria Jan. 27, 2026. (Credit: Karam al-Masri/Reuters)
"Liars, paupers and drug addicts." Seated in his office, Moustafa al-Issa, director of Raqqa’s reconciliation center, points through the window at a line of figures huddled in brown farwa, the thick woolen coats typical of Bedouin tribes.A few timidly raise their hands when agents sent by Damascus ask who was part of the Asayish, the Kurdish internal security forces. After a quick search, the former members of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) trickle into the building, which had been occupied until recently by Kurdish forces.After the call from the transitional Syrian authorities on Wednesday, Feb. 4, hundreds of former civilians and soldiers came forward to regularize their status and turn in their weapons. The arms are kept in a locked room, with between 4,000 and 6,500 collected since the process...
"Liars, paupers and drug addicts." Seated in his office, Moustafa al-Issa, director of Raqqa’s reconciliation center, points through the window at a line of figures huddled in brown farwa, the thick woolen coats typical of Bedouin tribes.A few timidly raise their hands when agents sent by Damascus ask who was part of the Asayish, the Kurdish internal security forces. After a quick search, the former members of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) trickle into the building, which had been occupied until recently by Kurdish forces.After the call from the transitional Syrian authorities on Wednesday, Feb. 4, hundreds of former civilians and soldiers came forward to regularize their status and turn in their weapons. The arms are kept in a locked room, with between 4,000 and 6,500 collected since the...
