Syria gives Kurds four days to accept integration as US signals end of support

 Syria on Tuesday announced a ceasefire with Kurdish forces it ‌has seized swathes of territory from in the northeast and gave them four days to agree on integrating into the central state, which their main ally, the US, urged them to accept.

The lightning government advances in recent days and the apparent withdrawal of US support for the continued holding of territory by the Syrian Democratic Forces represent the biggest change of control in the country since rebels ousted Bashar al-Assad 13 months ago.

US envoy Tom Barrack in a social media post described the offer of integration into the central Syrian state with citizenship rights, cultural protections and political participation as the “greatest opportunity” the Kurds have.

He added ⁠that the original purpose of the SDF, which Washington had supported as its main local ally battling Islamic State, had largely expired, and that the US had no long-term interest in retaining its presence in Syria.

The SDF said it accepted a ceasefire agreement with the Damascus government and that it would not engage in any military action unless attacked.

A Syrian government statement said it had reached an understanding with the SDF for it to devise an integration plan for Hasakah province or risk state forces entering two SDF-controlled cities.

The government announced a four-day ceasefire starting on Tuesday evening and said it had asked ‍the SDF to submit the name of a candidate to take the role of assistant to the defence minister in Damascus as part of the integration.

Northeast Syria, wedged between Turkey and Iraq, is ‍home to both Kurds and Arabs and was largely overrun by Islamic State fighters a decade ago before the SDF drove them back with air support from a US-led coalition.

However, advances by the SDF’s main component, the Kurdish YPG force, were concerning to US ally Turkey, which regarded it as an offshoot of the ‌PKK group that had waged a years-long insurgency inside Turkey.

Since Assad was overthrown in December 2024, Syria has been led by former rebel leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, who at one stage controlled the al-Qaeda offshoot ‍in the country, and who has emerged as a close ally of Turkey.

Northeast Syria remains sensitive to Ankara, and is of wider international concern because of the presence of SDF-guarded facilities holding thousands of detained Islamic State militants and civilians associated with them.

About 200 low-level Islamic State fighters escaped Shaddadi prison in northeast Syria on Monday when the SDF departed, but Syrian government forces recaptured many of them, a US official said on Tuesday.

The Syrian Interior Ministry said on Tuesday that about 120 Islamic State detainees ‌escaped, ⁠81 of whom had been recaptured.

The SDF said it had also withdrawn from al-Hol camp housing thousands of civilians linked to the jihadist group near the Iraqi border.

A senior Syrian government defence official said Damascus had notified the US of the SDF intention to withdraw from the vicinity of al-Hol camp and that government forces were ready to deploy there.

The SDF has previously said it was guarding some 10,000 Isis fighters.

Syrian military sources said government troops had advanced on Tuesday in eastern areas of Hasakah province and south of the town of Kobani on the border with Turkey.

The SDF remains in ‌control of Hasakah City, the provincial capital, which is ethnically mixed between Kurds and Arabs, and the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli.

The government statement said it would not try to enter Hasakah or Qamishli cities during the four days it had given the SDF to outline a plan for integrating into the Syrian state.

Tensions between the SDF ‌and Damascus spilled into conflict this month after deadlock over ‌the fate of the group’s fighters and territory as it resisted government demands to dissolve into the defence ministry.

On Sunday, the SDF agreed to withdraw from the Arab-majority provinces of Raqqa and Deir al-Zor, and on Monday, government forces pushed into Hasakah province.

Reports indicated that SDF commander Mazloum Abdi and Sharaa held a rocky meeting on Monday, after Abdi’s signature appeared on a 14-point agreement with the government.

The US, which has established close ties with Sharaa under President Donald Trump, has been closely involved in mediation between the sides.

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3340614/syria-gives-kurds-4-days-accept-integration-us-signals-end-support