QAMISHLI, Syria, Jan 27, (AP): Fighting this month between Syria's government and Kurdish-led forces left civilians on either side of the frontline fearing for their future or harboring resentment as the country's new leaders push forward with transition after years of civil war. The fighting ended with government forces capturing most of the territory previously held by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the country’s northeast, and a fragile ceasefire is holding.

SDF fighters will be absorbed into Syria's army and police, ending months of disputes. The Arab-majority population in the areas that changed hands, Raqqa and Deir el-Zour, have celebrated the SDF's withdrawal after largely resenting its rule. But thousands of Kurdish residents of those areas fled, and non-Kurdish residents remain in Kurdish-majority enclaves still controlled by the SDF.

The International Organization for Migration has registered more than 173,000 people displaced. Subhi Hannan is among them, sleeping in a chilly schoolroom in the SDF-controlled city of Qamishli with his wife, three children and his mother after fleeing Raqqa. The family is familiar with displacement after the years of civil war under former President Bashar Assad.

They were first displaced from their hometown of Afrin in 2018, in an offensive by Turkish-backed rebels. Five years later, Hannan stepped on a landmine and lost his legs. During the insurgent offensive that ousted Assad in December 2024, the family fled again, landing in Raqqa. In the family’s latest flight this month, Hannan said their convoy was stopped by government fighters, who arrested most of their escort of SDF fighters and killed one.

Hannan said fighters also took his money and cell phone and confiscated the car the family was riding in. "I’m 42 years old and I’ve never seen something like this,” Hannan said. "I have two amputated legs, and they were hitting me.” Now, he said, "I just want security and stability, whether it’s here or somewhere else.” The father of another family in the convoy, Khalil Ebo, confirmed the confrontation and thefts by government forces, and said two of his sons were wounded in the crossfire.