Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa (R) attends a meeting with his foreign minister (not pictured) and Mazloum Abdi (2nd-L), the leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), at the People's Palace in Damascus on August 25, 2026. The leader of the SDF, the Washington-backed de facto army at the forefront of the battle against the Islamic State jihadist group announced their dissoluton on August 25. After being Syria's most highly-trained and organised force for years, Washington promptly dropped the SDF for the new US-friendly authorities in Damascus after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. (Photo by Bakr ALkasem / AFP via Getty Images)