Syria merges Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into state institutions

Syria says that it has reached an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the latter with state institutions.

The Syrian presidency made the announcement on Monday and released images of a signing ceremony featuring the Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and the head of the SDF, Mazloum Abdi.

The agreement emphasised the unity of Syria, and stipulated that “all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria” be merged “into the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport, and oil and gas fields”.

The United States-backed SDF has controlled a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Syria since 2015.

The agreement, if implemented, would bring that territory under the full control of the Syrian central government.

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar, reporting from the Syrian capital Damascus, said that the deal is one of the most major developments since the fall of longtime President Bashar al-Assad at the hands of Syrian opposition forces led by al-Sharaa in December.