A U.S. envoy says that Syria’s central government and the Kurds remain at odds over plans on merging their forces after the latest round of talks

Violence between government forces and armed factions of a religious minority in southern Syria this week has deepened divisions in a country still recuperating from a civil war.

Iran’s armed proxies are ramping up pressure on key points in the Middle East as Tehran attempts to rebuild its regional influence, eroded by almost two years of a destructive Israeli military campaign.

In Syria, violence continued between rival factions even after a ceasefire deal. Government troops withdrew overnight from a region as Israel said it would not allow Syrian forces south of Damascus, extending its attempted control of the area.

In the 1990s when the Turkish government fought a pitiless war against the PKK, banned Kurdish language, criminalized identifying as a Kurd, and depopulated thousands of Kurdish villages, Erdogan, a young politician, produced a report advocating for greater rights for the Kurds.

Syria's government misread how Israel would respond to its troops deploying to the country's south this week, encouraged by U.S. messaging that Syria should be governed as a centralized state, eight sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

NPR's Leil Fadel asks Mahmoud Meslat, co-chair of the political wing of the Syrian Democratic Forces, whether Kurds in the semi-autonomous northwest region have a voice in the new government.

US envoy reports ongoing disagreements between Syria's government and Kurds regarding force merger plans after recent talks.