The Syrian army on Sunday continued dashing the dreams of so-called autonomy of the U.S.-backed YPG, the Syrian wing of the terrorist group PKK. In the second major push in two weeks against the group, the army seized swathes of the country’s north, including al-Omar and Tanak oil fields, as well as the Euphrates Dam.

Military operations appear to be limiting the YPG’s movement in post-Assad Syria, where the group aspired to retain its "autonomy” in the northeast that lingered for more than a decade. Damascus hoped that the YPG would implement a March 2025 deal signed between its leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa by the end of 2025. However, the YPG dragged its feet in its integration with the Syrian army under the deal and persisted in "decentralization.”

Government troops drove the YPG from two Aleppo neighborhoods last week and on Saturday took control of an area east of the city. On Sunday, the government announced the capture of Tabqa, about 55 kilometers (34 miles) west of Raqqa.

"The Syrian army controls the strategic city of Tabqa in the Raqqa countryside, including the Euphrates Dam, which is the largest dam in Syria," said Information Minister Hamza Almustafa, according to the official SANA news agency. By Sunday evening, local media outlets reported that most of Raqqa was captured from the YPG thanks to a popular uprising against the terrorists and an offensive by tribal forces.

Noureddin al-Baba, a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, told al-Ikhbariyyah TV station that they had "good news" for the people of Raqqa and thanked the people for cooperating with the government forces. He stated that his ministry's forces were now stationed across Raqqa and reinforcements were dispatched to the province. He said new police outposts and security posts would be established across Raqqa within a few hours, to cement the central administration's full control of Raqqa.

Anadolu Agency (AA), meanwhile, reported that Deir el-Zour province, occupied by YPG terrorists, has been largely liberated by tribal forces east of the Euphrates River. "The YPG withdrew at dawn on Sunday from all areas under its control in the eastern Deir el-Zour countryside, including the al-Omar and Tanak oil fields," the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

AA said that tribal groups operating east of the Euphrates, supported by reinforcements arriving from west of the river, took control of the al-Omar oil field and the Conoco natural gas field on Sunday. A security vacuum emerged in the region following the withdrawal of U.S. forces, which had previously used the fields as military bases.

Armed operations launched against the YPG by tribes coming from the western bank of the river that divides the province into two, together with tribes on the eastern side, have been ongoing since Saturday night.

After liberating the southern and central parts of the province, tribal forces expanded their areas of control northward toward Raqqa and Hasakah, largely securing control over the provincial borders. The settlements of Mheimide, Suwaidan Jazira, Murad, Giranic, Tayyane, al-Jarzi, al-Husseiniyah, Halabiye, al-Baghour, al-Boubadran, al-Bahrah, Susah, Abu Hardub, al-Shenan, Darnaj, Diban, al-Hawayij, al-Busayrah, Subha, Dehla, Jadid Baggara, Khasham, Mazlum, al-Hisan, Jafra Field, Huwayij Bumasah and Sawa in Deir el-Zour are now under the control of the tribal forces.

Syria's army said four soldiers had been killed, while the YPG reported several members dead.

The YPG ordered a curfew in the Raqqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory southwest of the Euphrates River a "closed military zone," warning it would target what it said were several military sites.

The SANA news agency reported Sunday that the YPG destroyed two bridges over the Euphrates in Raqqa city, which lies on the eastern bank of the river.

Raqqa's media directorate separately accused the YPG of cutting off Raqa city's water supply by blowing up the main water pipes.

Deir ez-Zour governor Ghassan Alsayed Ahmed said on social media that the YPG fired "rocket projectiles" at neighborhoods in government-controlled territories in the city center, Al-Mayadin and other areas.

On Friday, Şahin had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to east of the Euphrates.

The army urged the YPG to "immediately fulfil its announced commitments and fully withdraw" east of the river.

The YPG controls swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast, areas captured during the civil war.

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack met Şahin in Irbil, the seat of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), on Saturday.

While Washington has long supported the YPG under the pretext of a joint fight against Daesh, it has also backed Syria's new authorities.

U.S. Central Command on Saturday urged Syrian government forces "to cease any offensive actions in the areas between Aleppo and Tabqa.”

French President Emmanuel Macron and KRG President Nechirvan Barzani also called for de-escalation and a cease-fire.

Since leading a revolution to oust the oppressive Ba'athist regime in December 2024, al-Sharaa has struggled to assert full control across the war-torn country and to appeal to minorities skeptical of his rule. The YPG has been warm to the idea of integration with the new Syrian army, but Türkiye, which suffered from YPG attacks in the past, has pointed out that they were buying time to implement the deal, apparently encouraged by Israel.

Tabqa is the latest of the mostly Arab majority areas that government forces have captured in Raqqa province. It remains unclear how deep into YPG-controlled areas the Syrian military will go.

Meanwhile, the Syrian government, in a statement, accused YPG forces of executing prisoners in Tabqa before withdrawing from the area. Amid lawlessness due to civil war, the YPG took Tabqa from Daesh back in 2017.

The YPG has attempted to portray tensions in and around Aleppo as ethnic attacks against Kurds it claims to represent. To counter the allegations, Syria on Friday unveiled its first formal recognition of Kurdish rights in the country since Syria’s independence in 1946. A presidential decree said that Kurds are "an essential and integral part" of Syria. It made Kurdish a "national language" and granted nationality to all Kurds, around 20% of whom were stripped of it under a controversial 1962 census.

Türkiye’s guidance

Türkiye has offered Syria any assistance it may need in defusing tensions with the YPG. Türkiye and Damascus are determined to push for the integration of the YPG into the Syrian army, but are also planning next steps in case of resistance. The Sabah newspaper reported on Saturday that more operations may be in store against the YPG.

The Sabah report says Türkiye would offer aerial and intelligence support to operations and shared its experience in the fight against the PKK with Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told al-Sharaa to exert caution in operations to not harm civilians during operations, the newspaper said, adding that Türkiye’s recommendations helped minimize harm to civilians.

If the YPG continues to resist integration into the Syrian army, operations east and west of the Euphrates River will continue, the Sabah report says.

During this process, an effective public diplomacy campaign will be conducted to prevent discomfort among the international community and Kurdish citizens in Türkiye and to avoid the spread of misinformation. In Türkiye’s previous operations against the PKK and the YPG, propaganda claiming that "civilians are being killed” and that "Kurds are being targeted for elimination” was widely circulated. Those claims, though false, gained some traction among Kurdish citizens and international public opinion. Officials say the upcoming effort will prevent such disinformation from taking hold.

If the YPG maintains its current stance, Türkiye and the Syrian government are said to be determined to advance as far as Qamishli. However, security sources believe the group will return to negotiations and be forced into integration before operations reach Qamishli.

During the Aleppo phase, the YPG failed to receive the support it had expected from the U.S. and Israel did not fulfill any of its commitments to the YPG, according to officials. This became evident during operations in evacuated neighborhoods, a development described as significant and likely to influence the YPG’s decision to return to the negotiating table.

Turkish ministers traveling to Syria have repeatedly stressed to the Damascus administration that civilians must not be harmed under any circumstances. Officials say the care shown toward civilians during the Aleppo operation reflected Türkiye’s guidance.

After the collapse of Türkiye’s reconciliation process in the 2010s to disarm the PKK, the country carried out operations against the group, which it says had used civilians as human shields in several cities. Following monthslong operations, the group was removed from urban areas. Türkiye has shared its experience from those operations with the Syrian government, and that experience was applied during the Aleppo operation.

Türkiye says it sees no alternative to the situation other than the YPG laying down its arms and integrating into Syria. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is described as resolute on this issue. His recent remarks that the situation in Aleppo represents "an opportunity” are therefore being interpreted as a final chance extended to the group.