Kurdish SDF militia agrees to join Syrian army, integrate with government in deal with President al-Sharaa

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition of militias which carved out an autonomous zone in northeast Syria during the nation's civil war, agreed to officially join the military of the new Syrian government on Monday, inking a deal with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. 

Under the agreement, SDF fighters will be integrated into the Syrian Armed Forces, and the governing institutions of the Kurdish autonomous region will be incorporated into the official Syrian national government.

The deal was signed by Mazloum Abdi, the official general commander of the SDF, in a meeting with al-Sharaa in Damascus on Monday afternoon. 

After the deal was signed, Abdi posted a message on 𝕏, stating, “In this sensitive period, we are working together to ensure a transitional phase that reflects our people’s aspirations for justice and stability. We are committed to building a better future that guarantees the rights of all Syrians and fulfills their aspirations for peace and dignity."

"We consider this agreement a real opportunity to build a new Syria that embraces all its components and ensures good neighborliness.” 

In an interview with the Arab news site Majalla, Abdi said, "Certainly we want to be part of the political process and part of the new Syria."

Abdi also affirmed his support for a unified state, saying that SDF and the new government agreed on "the territorial integrity of Syria, and that there should be one army in Syria and the institutions would be one, and we should have one capital, and one flag, these are sovereign points and basic points."

Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December, the new Syrian government has worked to dismantle various armed militias across the country while integrating some fighters and leaders into its ranks.

The full terms of the deal are not finalized, however. Based on what is known so far, the agreement calls for SDF to assist the new regime in fighting against remaining elements of Assad supporters.

The agreement guarantees “the rights of all Syrians to representation and participation in the political process,” while stipulating that SDF would integrate “all civil and military institutions” into the new government, including military installations and Kurdish-controlled oil and gas fields. 

Many questions remain unanswered about the agreement, including how SDF forces will be integrated into the Syrian army, what the call for “a cease-fire on all Syrian territories” entails, and its impact on the long-standing Turkish-Kurdish conflict, which has been raging almost throughout the Syrian Civil War. 

Due to the ongoing conflict between the Kurds and Turkey, which has been a significant backer of the new government and previously of the Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) militia that dominated the new government, a deal between the new government and SDF was seen by many as difficult to accomplish. 

However, the new agreement could bring an end to the cross-border fighting between SDF and Turkish-affiliated forces operating in the north of Syria. 

Analysts suggest that the Kurdish-led SDF may have signed the agreement out of concern that its main backer for the past 14 years, the United States, is withdrawing from the region on its own terms.

Without U.S. military support, the SDF will not likely be able to maintain its autonomous zone from the combined pressure of the new Syrian regime, together with Turkish-led attacks, which have continued on a near-daily basis despite the fall of the Assad regime. 

The agreement could bring an end to those attacks. 

So far, people in the autonomous zone are expressing cautious hope that the agreement will end the conflict with Turkey as well, given the recent end of hostilities between Turkey and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). 

Meanwhile, the Israeli military confirmed overnight airstrikes in southern Syria.

Israel Defense Forces said the Israeli Air Force hit “radar systems and detection equipment used to build an aerial intelligence picture,” along with “headquarters and military sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to the Syrian regime in southern Syria.”

The IDF further noted that “the presence of these assets in southern Syria poses a threat to the State of Israel and to IDF operations. These targets were attacked to eliminate future threats.”

The strikes come as Israel continues efforts to support Syrian Druze communities in southern Syria and follows its demand that the new regime refrain from establishing military positions south of Damascus.