Syria’s U.S.-backed Kurdish coalition faces an uncertain future after Assad’s ouster

In the aftermath of Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, Syria remains territorially fractured as the rebels who defeated Assad work to consolidate power. The country’s uncertain future has raised questions about the fate of the U.S.-backed Kurdish coalition known as the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

This week, Syria’s new leadership took steps to dissolve the different rebel factions and unite them under the new Syrian army. But the SDF did not join in. In a statement, SDF spokesperson Farhad Shami said the group wasn’t opposed to joining the Syrian military in principle, but that the matter required negotiations with Damascus.

The realities of the new Syria, however, have left the SDF with few options to maintain its status quo.

Read more: NPR