As peaceful protesters were killed on U.S. streets and branded "terrorists" by President Donald Trump's ICE agents earlier this year, that same administration has allowed a real terrorist threat to re-emerge: Islamic State. Most recently, the brutal fundamentalist group has announced what it calls "a new phase of operations in Syria."
The group’s global activity is once again on the rise, in part enabled by the U.S. withdrawing support from Rojava — a women-led, democratic experiment that has governed northern and eastern Syria autonomously since 2012, and which was central in ending Islamic State’s hold on territory in the region.
Now, despite international media writing that the ISIS revolution is over, it turns out the group is more than just surviving.
By 2019, the forces of Rojava led the fight to end Islamic State territorial control in Syria, where thousands of foreign fighters along with many more women and their families were detained in the autonomous region.
Most foreign governments would not repatriate their citizens to face justice at home. But with Rojava's future uncertain, these fighters could bring Islamic State back on the lands that Rojava liberated. From Iran to Greenland, Venezuela to Ukraine, Trump is fueling global disorder.
Amid it, his abandonment of Rojava – risking an Islamic State resurgence – is often overlooked, yet may be among his worst legacies.
Rojava in 2026
After military attacks on Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo, the HTS-led Syrian Transition Government mounted a full ground invasion of Rojava in January 2026. This greatly reduced the autonomous region officially called AANES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria) on land once liberated from Islamic State. What remains of AANES, now, is the predominantly Kurdish areas in the far northeast.
After overthrowing the Assad dictatorship in December 2024, HTS – a military group rebranded from Al-Nusra, the official Syrian wing of Al Qaeda — controls Syria.
"Since the fall of [Assad's] Syrian regime, escape attempts from camps holding families of IS fighters have increased significantly,” explains a Rojava resident who, for the sake of anonymity, prefers to go by the name Heval.
“Previously, the options for escape were geographically limited to the former Syrian opposition and HTS strongholds in the north, but now most of Syria serves as a safe haven for them," they added. And "with the escalation of attacks, the risks have intensified further.”
“There have already been confirmed incidents, including the escape of dozens of IS detainees from a prison in al-Shaddadi, south of Hasakah."
Speaking through encrypted messages, Heval explains, Rojava's future is "fragile and precarious."
Islamic State's forgotten foreign fighters
The Kurds of northern Syria proclaimed Rojava an autonomous region based on democratic confederalism in July 2012, as Assad's Syrian forces retreated during the Syrian War (2011-24). It expanded beyond the predominantly Kurdish north as an inclusive multi-ethnic, people-led society.
In 2015, Rojava drew global attention as Kobane was besieged by Islamic State. Losing many fighters, the women and men fighters held back this brutal force, who until then had seemed unstoppable.
Rojava was later central in an international alliance to defeat IS in 2019. International support for the autonomous region included air support and a small number of U.S. military personnel stationed in Rojava, who effectively acted as shields to prevent attacks from Turkey, Assad's Syria and other militia.
Despite this support, the U.S. and its allies refused to repatriate citizens who joined Islamic State to face justice. Instead, the Kurdish-led administration was left to take care of vast prisons and prison camps where these fighters and their families were held.
Trump's betrayal of Rojava
Trump effectively gave Turkey the green light to attack Rojava later in 2019. Turkey opposes Rojava vehemently, as the latter is ideologically connected to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) and its leader, Oçalan. Despite pushing democratic confederalism, Rojava and Turkey’s Kurds continue to remain oppressed as "terrorists" by the Turkish state.
After receiving the U.S. green light, Turkey and Turkish-backed militia violently captured land from Rojava, and were accused of ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity in Afrin (one of the three regions of the original Rojava) in 2018 and Serekaniye in 2019 by UN agencies and human right NGOs. Yet Rojava survived.
In February 2026, Trump's U.S. announced it would take away the remaining personnel and stop supporting Rojava. Just a month earlier, the new Syrian regime of HTS had attacked Rojava and taken swathes of land once liberated from Islamic State, including Raqqa.
Despite HTS’s Al Qaeda connection, the U.S. and European powers have normalised relations with Syria’s leadership. Despite Syria breaking ceasefire agreements with Rojava, the EU granted Syria €620 million ($722 million) for recovery and humanitarian aid in 2026.
U.S. diplomats involved in negotiations after HTS's January attack on Rojava told Reuters how the U.S. switched sides, making HTS their top allies. The U.S., again, effectively green-lighted another invasion of Rojava.
The U.S. and Europe normalizing ties with al-Qaeda affiliate, HTS, is horrendous. The new Syrian regime, like Assad's before it, is accused of crimes against humanity including against the Alawites living on Syria's coast, and the Druze minority living in Syria's south.
Before these atrocities, Heval noted that the discriminatory rhetoric coming from HTS and Damascus increased across different media — a level of vitriol that is now turned to demonise the Kurds.
More recently, since interviewing Heval, HTS stands accused of violence directed at Christian-dominated communities.
U.S. and Europe enabling Islamic State (again)
The autonomous administration of Rojava, UN agencies and human rights groups have long called on the U.S. and other nations to repatriate their citizens from the prisons and camps. When HTS-led Syria invaded Rojava, the U.S. moved some detained ex IS-fighters to camps in Kurdish controlled Iraq, the KRG (Kurdish Regional Government).
Heval says, "It appears that Western countries do not sufficiently trust the Syrian government to take over the management of these detention facilities. As a result, the United States has reportedly transferred thousands of detainees to Iraq. At the same time, al-Hol camp has effectively been opened, leading to the release of hundreds of radical women affiliated with IS families. There are indications that this may have occurred with the tacit acceptance from some European governments, which have long resisted repatriating their nationals and, in some cases, have even revoked their citizenship."
Heval explains how the situation in the Roj camp remains relatively stable. Detainees are generally considered less radicalised, although escape attempts continue.
Heval repeats the call that the US, European states and other nations take responsibility for their citizens.
"Repatriation efforts have been extremely limited in the past and now appear even less likely,” Heval said. “One possible scenario is that responsibility for these populations will be shifted to the Syrian government, potentially leading to their integration into Syrian society, at a time when religious extremism appears to be on the rise.
“In some cases, this could even involve granting them Syrian nationality, which may be one of the more likely long-term outcomes."
No friends but the mountains
Disappointment and disillusionment are two feelings felt across Rojava towards their so-called allies. Heval says, "Repeated instances of perceived U.S. abandonment of Kurdish allies have generated a strong emotional and political position.”
“There is also a deep sentiment of injustice and grief. Thousands of families of Rojava have lost their loved ones in the fight against IS, effectively on behalf of the international community. Many now perceive the U.S. abandoning them as a betrayal of those sacrifices."
This hurt includes many families not knowing what has happened to their loved ones fighting the attacks by the HTS-led Syrian regime. Heval also speaks of how this will impact Iran, where the U.S. want Kurds to join their war against the regime there.
"America has abandoned the Kurds of Rojava many times, the last of which was not far away, a few weeks ago."
Short of the U.S. and EU switching back to support Rojava, international pressure, including protests, are vital for Rojava continuing as an autonomous region. Pressure can be brought on international governments who are making military and economic deals with Syria under HTS and Turkey. Calling out the ongoing atrocities of HTS-led Syria is also crucial in the struggle for Rojava to continue.
Heval reports that people there think support from the Kurdish community across borders has been vital for the Rojava remaining autonomous. Kurds celebrated Newroz – Kurdish New Year — on March 21, yet in Aleppo and Afrin, there were reports of violent attacks against Kurds while HTS Syrian forces looked on.
While the U.S. , EU and their allies are enabling the strongest force against Islamic State to fall, it is vital for internationalists to continue to support this beacon of democracy and liberation.
