ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The US-led global coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) on Monday expressed gratitude for the “sacrifices” made by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the war against the terror group, and welcomed the recent agreement between the Kurdish-led force and Damascus.

The coalition “expressed appreciation for the sacrifices made by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the fight against ISIS,” in a statement issued late Monday following a meeting of senior diplomatic and defense officials from the coalition’s Small Group.

The SDF was one of the key forces battling ISIS during its reign of terror in Syria and the coalition’s main ally on the ground. Over 11,000 Kurdish-led fighters were killed in the war before being territorially defeated with the assistance of the coalition forces in 2019.

Large swathes of SDF-held territory freed from the jihadist organization were handed over to the Syrian Arab Army and its affiliated factions following violent clashes in January.

The Kurdish general public has criticized Washington for what they perceived to be a lack of support for the SDF and its affiliated forces during the escalations with Damascus, despite their history of cooperation with and reliance on the Kurdish forces.

In late January, SDF announced that it had reached a “comprehensive agreement” with Damascus to enable a phased integration process of the Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian state, after weeks-long clashes between the two sides.

The international alliance welcomed the agreement between the two parties “including the permanent ceasefire and arrangements for the civil and military integration of northeast Syria.”

Baghdad is coordinating with Washington to transfer some 7,000 ISIS prisoners from facilities in Syria to secure areas in Iraq, amid uncertainties in Syria after government-aligned factions took control of key detention sites from the SDF.

The coalition thanked Iraq “for its leadership and recognized that the transfer of detainees into Iraqi custody is essential to regional security,” and commended Baghdad’s efforts to “securely detain ISIS fighters.”

It further stressed the need for repatriating the prisoners to their countries of origin, who, according to Baghdad, are from 42 different nationalities, as well as the reintegration of families from the notorious al-Hol camp to their original communities.