Arabs, Kurds unite against IS, but post-victory? ‘God knows’
RAQQA, SYRIA — The two fighters, one an Arab sniper, the other his Kurdish commander, are each driven by a personal grudge against the Islamic State group. They are working side by side in an elite commando unit of the U.S.-backed forces fighting the militants in the Syrian city of Raqqa.
But they have vastly different visions of what happens once they succeed.
Abdullah, the Arab fighter, fears the militants’ fall in Raqqa will only be the start of more turmoil. He worries it will unleash a wave of bloodshed among the area’s Sunni Arab community as residents seek revenge on neighbors who joined the group.
For Erdal, the Kurd and the unit commander, the battle for Raqqa is a step toward realizing his people’s dream of autonomy in the Kurdish heartland of northern Syria. Next, he and many other Kurds believe, will come a fight with their nemesis Turkey, which has sent troops into Syria in part to thwart Kurdish ambitions.
Another danger once IS falls is of a backlash among Raqqa’s Sunni Arab population against the Kurds. Many in the community deeply resent Kurdish ambitions and see their hopes for self-rule as intended to break apart the country.
The two men’s views reflect the differing priorities run through the alliance between Kurdish and Arab fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces, which the United States forged together to wage the fight against the Islamic State group. The SDF has proven a startling success in bringing together Kurds and Arabs. The more experienced and organized Kurds dominate command and some units are purely Kurd or purely Arab, but most SDF units are mixed, with few signs among the fighters of the tensions plaguing their communities at large as Kurdish influence grows in northern Syria.
It is largely the hands-on U.S. support that ensures that cohesion, raising questions over what happens when the American role eventually pulls back. For Arab fighters, the force is a chance to get vital training, funds and experience from the Americans, working alongside U.S. special forces advisers on the front lines. U.S. officials say the SDF, estimated at 50,000 fighters, is 50 percent Arab, with new recruits coming from liberated areas in Raqqa province.
This week, IS released a grisly video warning Arabs not to join with the Kurds. “You will regret it,” a bearded militant sitting by the banks of a river says, telling Arab tribes they will face “bitter revenge.”
The footage then shows militants beheading a captured Arab fighter.
The Kurds, meanwhile, see the alliance with the United States as essential to securing their hold across northern Syria “from the threat of an attack by Turkey or the Syrian regime,” said Noah Bonsey, a Syria expert with the International Crisis Group. Moreover, the more they capture in eastern Syria the stronger their hand is in the future as all sides try to carve out zones of power in the country.
“If they don’t want the confrontation (with Turkey), (Washington) has to find a solution,” Erdal said on a recent afternoon only miles from the frontline in Raqqa.
Abdullah and Erdal spoke to The Associated Press between their unit’s assaults into the city. Both fighters go by one name to protect their identities. Erdal’s name is a nom de guerre, a common practice in the Kurdish People’s Protection Units, known as the YPG, which form the backbone of the SDF.
“What comes after IS, only God knows,” said Abdullah.
At 23, Erdal is an experienced veteran of the Syrian Kurds’ campaign to stake their claims. He has fought in the ranks of the YPG since he was 17 and took part in most of the major battles since, whether against Islamic State militants or against rival rebels in northern Syria.
In 2015, Erdal’s uncle was kidnapped by IS after the militants accused him of trying to free women from enslavement. For months, he remained in their custody until they beheaded him earlier this year along with others in a public square in Raqqa.