News - Middle East: The so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) say factions aligned with Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) administration are helping Daesh terrorists carry out drone attacks against SDF positions in northern Syria. 

The US-backed SDF on Thursday said its militants hit sites in the northern province of Raqqah that were used by Daesh terrorists to launch drone attacks against the Kurdish militias' positions, noting that the HTS forces are facilitating the drone attacks.

“Our forces within the Syrian Democratic Forces are engaging a number of sites that Daesh terrorists directly used to launch unmanned aerial vehicles toward our positions in the Ghanem al-Ali desert east of Raqqah,” the group said.

The area has seen repeated attacks “by factions affiliated with the Damascus government, coinciding with Daesh activity,” it added, noting that there is “direct coordination between several Damascus-government factions and Daesh terrorists in targeting our military positions and endangering the security of the region.”

The HTS administration accused the SDF of “attacking Syrian Arab Army outposts in the Maadan subdistrict [located in southeastern] Raqqah” in the early hours of Thursday, and “seizing several positions after heavy targeting with various types of weapons.”

However, it added that the military “responded to the sources of fire and carried out a direct counterattack, regaining control of the [seized] positions and expelling the attackers,” holding the Kurdish militants “responsible for the repercussions of the attack” and calling it a “treacherous and almost daily renewed aggression.”

On late Wednesday, the SDF said it downed two drones, adding that the analyzed data from one of them showed that it had been operated by “a group of foreign militants affiliated with the Daesh terrorist organization, stationed at positions held by Damascus government-affiliated factions.”

“These findings conclusively confirm the involvement of several factions of the Damascus government in cooperating with foreign Daesh-affiliated elements,” the SDF added.

Once affiliated with al-Qaeda and Daesh, Abu Mohammed al-Jolani seized power in Syria following a rapid onslaught by his militant group, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which ousted the government of President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.

The HTS administration has reportedly incorporated thousands of foreign Takfiri militants into the country’s new military.

The new clashes come as the two sides had reached a ceasefire in October.

The violence forms part of a pattern seen across Syria since Assad’s fall. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported nearly 11,000 civilian deaths since militant factions led by HTS seized power in December.

It documented widespread abuses, including field executions, torture, kidnappings and indiscriminate attacks. The monitor said 8,422 civilians were among the 10,955 people killed nationwide from December 2024 to October 2025.

The Israeli regime, meanwhile, has escalated its own strikes across the country, exploiting Syria’s post-Assad instability to grab more land from the Arab country.

Source: Press TV