“The Kurds have no friends but the mountains.” This well-worn adage conveys the Kurds’ isolation in the face of centuries of suffering under successive rulers. In Turkey, Iran and Iraq, where the largest concentration of Kurds live, there are plenty of mountains that have provided sanctuary to Kurdish civilians and rebels alike. Not so in Syria, where some 2 million Kurds are largely confined to the arid plains bordering Turkey, putting them at the mercy of their oppressors and the flat terrain.

Yet, in recent times, the Syrian Kurds have seemed invincible. Fighting under the banner of the People’s Protection Units (YPG), they are at the vanguard of the US-led campaign to eradicate the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Since 2011, when the Syrian conflict erupted, they have gone from being a systematically suppressed minority to a significant player, simultaneously allied with Russia and the United States.

Despite their gains, however, the constantly shifting dynamics of the conflict have left the Syrian Kurds once again feeling vulnerable. In off-the-record conversations with Syrian Kurdish fighters and politicians, a constant theme emerged — whether their newfound partner the United States has an end game for Syria, and if so, where the Kurds fit into it. Barzan Iso, a local analyst with close ties to the Syrian Kurdish administration, summed up growing concerns in a question: “Is the United States’ alliance with the Syrian Kurds part of a broader strategy, or will they dump us and pack up once Daesh [IS] is defeated?”

The question gained urgency on April 20, when Syrian government forces arrested several Kurdish youths in the northeastern border town of Qamishli, where the regime continues to maintain an uneasy presence alongside the Kurds. YPG sources said the youths were detained for avoiding mandatory service in the Syrian army. The ensuing clashes between regime forces and the Asayish (a local Kurdish police force) left dozens dead, but the Kurds prevailed, seizing control of several government positions and dictating the terms of a truce declared April 24.