Syria’s government and the Syran Democratic Forces (SDF) have agreed to a ceasefire deal and plan to integrate their military and administrative bodies after weeks of fighting.
The agreement will see interior ministry security forces deployed to the centres of the cities of Hasakah and Qamishli in the northeast, which are both currently held by the Kurdish-led group.
Conflict between the two has seen the SDF lose much of the territory it took since the beginning of Syria’s civil war in 2011. The group is now largely restricted to Kurdish-majority areas in Syria.
The new agreement will see three Syrian army brigades created out of the SDF.
The group, formed out of the mainly Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and allied Arab groups in 2015, was a key force in defeating the Islamic State group in Syria with US support.
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However, its longterm ambition to create an autonomous region in Syria has been crushed by the Syrian government’s advances and US pressure.
The Syrian government, formed by rebel groups who overthrew Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, has repeatedly stated that it has no intention of allowing devolution in Syria and has taken steps to centralise authority in Damascus.
One of the government’s staunchest backers, Turkey, sees the YPG as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), an armed group that has fought the Turkish state for autonomy since 1984.
This is a developing story…
