Kneeling in prayer in Al-Naim Square, in the center of Raqqa, Ahmed Al-Omar recited prayers, his words muffled by heartbreaking sobs. On the evening of Sunday, January 18, the 35-year-old police officer returned to his hometown in northeastern Syria, 12 years after leaving it. Around him, the deafening roar of Kalashnikov gunfire celebrated the departure of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a predominantly Kurdish group. “I left Raqqa because of Daesh [the Islamic State group, IS], then because of the SDF. I left with my comrades. I buried 40 of them, all over Syria, through the course of the battles, before I was finally able to return,” the police officer said.

In the city, left to looters as Damascus’s security forces settled in, locals rejoiced. “It’s the first time we’ve raised the Syrian flag and listened to the songs of the revolution,” said Yasser Saleh. The 35-year-old unemployed man said that six people were killed in the square that afternoon by the SDF when a crowd gathered to celebrate the liberation. As night fell, Raqqa was still not secure.

The fate of northeastern Syria changed dramatically in just two days. On Saturday, January 17, and Sunday, January 18, government forces retook the predominantly Arab provinces of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor from the SDF. The SDF had governed these provinces after driving out IS with support from the international coalition between 2016 and 2019. Building on their momentum after reclaiming the Kurdish enclave in Aleppo and betting on the defection of Arab tribes, Syria’s transitional president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, seized control of part of the Kurdish autonomous region, along with its oil and gas resources. The Kurdish forces, in disarray, withdrew north toward Hassakeh, Kobani and Qamishli.

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