US forces have begun transferring IS prisoners out of Syria, moving 150 detainees to Iraq under plans that could see up to 7,000 relocated. The move follows growing instability after Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew troops from parts of northeast Syria, raising concerns over the security of prisons and detention camps holding thousands of IS members and affiliates. US officials said recent unrest allowed around 200 low-level fighters to escape one facility, though many were later recaptured. More than 10,000 IS fighters remain imprisoned in Syria, alongside thousands of women and children connected to the group. The transfers are being carried out in coordination with the Iraqi government as part of efforts to prevent a resurgence of IS and maintain regional security. The changes come amid a wider political shift, with Syria’s new government seeking to reassert control after the fall of Bashar al-Assad. A ceasefire has been agreed with the SDF, which has been urged to integrate into the Syrian state, marking a significant transition in security arrangements.

President Erdogan is giving signals of an imminent cross-border large-scale military incursion into Syria. Military equipment is on the frontier, and artillery shells now pound positions held by Syrian Kurdish armed forces. Senior officials and analysts believe operations against the groups will commence soon, hoping to conclude before the NATO summit on 29 June. ‘We will crack down on them suddenly overnight’, Erdogan told reporters. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it will coordinate with Syrian troops to fend off any Turkish invasion. An SDF commander said Damascus should use air defence systems against Turkish planes. Turkey’s vowed new offensive will be on areas controlled by the Kurdish YPG militia, a key part of the SDF. Syria warned Turkey there will be no compromise on territorial integrity. Turkey considers the YPG a terrorist organisation. Syrian Kurdish forces are backed by Washington, and co-ordinated with Syria and its ally Russia. See

The USA is working with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to create a border force, potentially 30,000 fighters, along the Turkey/Iraq borders and along the Syrian side of the Euphrates. Since 2014 it has led the coalition of nations using air strikes and specialist troops to fight IS across Syria and Iraq. IS has now lost most of that territory. For much of the war, the US and Turkey worked together against the Assad government. But this decision to back Kurdish fighters has enraged Ankara, and Syria denounced any new border force as an assault on its sovereignty, adding that Syrians joining the force would be ‘traitors’. Turkey vowed to ‘drown’ Kurdish border security forces in bullets, and Erdogan accused America of forming a ‘terrorist’ force on Turkey’s border. The fragile state of relations between the nations deteriorates.