Syria’s Kurdish forces have reached a comprehensive agreement with the government to integrate with the Syrian army.
The interim government in Damascus has been fighting an offensive in the north of the country against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) over recent weeks as it seeks to consolidate control of the country following the overthrow of longtime leader Bashir al-Assad in December 2024.
However, a ceasefire over the past week or so has now resulted in an agreement for a phased integration of the Kurdish military forces into the army, according to an SDF statement issued on Friday.
Shortly afterwards, Syrian state TV confirmed the agreement, reporting that government officials said it would be implemented immediately.
The army has seized swaths of northern and northeastern territory in the last three weeks from the SDF in a rapid turn of events that has consolidated the leadership of President Ahmed al-Sharaa, after months-long talks between the sides failed to merge the fighters and Kurdish political entities into central institutions.
Under the new agreement, forces will withdraw from the front lines, government units will deploy to the centres of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli, and local security forces will be merged.
The ceasefire between the sides was largely holding, even as they accused each other of violating its terms, as the government pressed its demand for the integration of the remaining Kurdish-run enclaves with the state, while the SDF sought to cling on in the northeastern enclave it held.
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