The uncertainty of the future for Syria’s Kurdish minority is exacerbated by the diminishing conflict and the ousting of the Islamic State (ISIS) from the region, it said.

Kurdish forces have been the backbone of the U.S.-led war on ISIS, which was driven out of the region two years ago.

Kurds will be “highly vulnerable to external attacks once the US departs”, analyst Dareen Khalifa told AFP.

“The Biden administration is less likely to leave precipitously,” but is unlikely to commit to staying forever, she added.

Following the decision by former U.S. President Donald Trump to withdraw troops in October 2019, the United States currently maintains around 900 troops on the ground in Syria, mostly stationed around oil reserves. It remains to be seen what steps the Biden administration will take regarding continued U.S. military involvement.

Kurdish forces are also faced with opposition from Ankara on their growing presence along the Turkish border, AFP said, with Ankara designating the U.S.-backed Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as “terrorist” and an extension of a Kurdish insurgency on its own soil. Turkey has conducted three military operations into northern Syria targeting the group since 2016.

Pointing to an attempt by Kurds to seek protection from Damascus following a 2019 Turkish incursion into Syria targeting Kurdish forces, AFP said talks continued between the two sides as Turkey, according to experts, continued to see itself as an “occupying power.”

Moreover, there is still no solution in sight for the tens of thousands of alleged ISIS fighters and family members being held in jails and overcrowded camps controlled by Kurds, it said.

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