HASAKAH: Syria’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed a new ceasefire on Tuesday as Washington said the SDF’s purpose in fighting Daesh group was largely over.
The announcement came after the army sent reinforcements to the Kurds’ Hasakah province stronghold in the northeast, and Kurdish forces withdrew from the Al-Hol camp which houses thousands of people with suspected Daesh links, including foreign women and children.
The latest truce opens the way for further talks on a deal announced Sunday between President Ahmed Al-Sharaa and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi that includes integrating the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration into the state, in a major blow to the Kurds.
The SDF once controlled vast areas of north and east Syria which it seized fighting Daesh with support from a US-led international coalition.
But they have now withdrawn from Arab-majority Raqqa and Deir Ezzor provinces after a government military escalation that began in Aleppo earlier this month.
The defense ministry in Damascus announced a four-day ceasefire starting Tuesday evening.
The SDF said it was committed to the truce and ready to “move forward with implementing” Sunday’s agreement.
An AFP correspondent saw major military reinforcements moving toward Hasakah province, while a military official said his tank convoy had “assault and defensive vehicles behind us for support.”
Sharaa’s forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar Assad in 2024. The new authorities are seeking to extend state control across Syria, resetting international ties including with the United States, now a key ally.
‘Largely expired’
US envoy Tom Barrack said “the original purpose of the SDF as the primary anti-ISIS force on the ground has largely expired, as Damascus is now both willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities, including control of Daesh detention facilities and camps.”
Syria’s presidency on Tuesday announced a fresh “understanding” with the Kurds over the fate of Kurdish-majority areas of Hasakah province, and gave the Kurds “four days for consultations to develop a detailed plan” for the area’s integration.
If finalized, government forces “will not enter the city centers of Hasakah and Qamishli... and Kurdish villages,” it added.
In Hasakah city earlier Tuesday, an AFP correspondent saw Kurdish residents including women and the elderly bearing weapons in support of the SDF, which patrolled and manned checkpoints.
Fighter Shahine Baz told AFP: “We promise our people to protect them until the end.”
In northeast Syria’s Qamishli, Hasina Hammo, 55, holding a Kalashnikov, said “we will not surrender.”
Earlier Tuesday, the SDF said its forces “were compelled to withdraw from Al-Hol camp and redeploy” near north Syria cities “that are facing increasing risks and threat.”
Northeast Syria’s Kurdish-administered camps and prisons hold tens of thousands of people, many with alleged or perceived Daesh links, nearly seven years after the group’s territorial defeat. Al-Hol is the largest camp.
The defense ministry said it was ready to take responsibility for Al-Hol camp “and all Daesh prisoners.”
