Samar Kassabali

Stay informed with Samar Kassabali’s coverage and analysis for Fortune.

  • A U.S. soldier keeps watch during a patrol in Syria’s northeastern city Qamishli, in the Hasakeh province, mostly controlled by Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on January 9, 2025. Turkey has long been rankled by United States support for the Kurdish-led SDF in northern Syria. Ankara sees the main component of the SDF, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), as an extension of its outlawed domestic foe the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). But Washington has long seen the SDF — which spearheaded the fight that defeated Islamic State group jihadists in 2019 — as crucial to preventing a jihadist resurgence in the area. (Photo by Delil SOULEIMAN / AFP) (Photo by DELIL SOULEIMAN/AFP via Getty Images)Middle East

    Trump pledges retaliation after 3 Americans are killed in Syria attack that the U.S. blames on the Islamic State group

    By Samar Kassabali, Bassem Mroue, and others