A small group of security forces from Syria’s interior ministry entered the city of al-Hassakeh on Monday as part of an agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control the city.
The SDF announced the new agreement with the central government on Friday, aiming to stabilise a ceasefire in the country that ended weeks of fighting, in which the Kurdish-led force lost most of the territory it previously held in northeastern Syria, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
***
It lays out steps toward integrating the force into the army and police forces, and integrating civilian institutions in SDF-controlled areas into the central government.
Under the deal, government military forces will not enter Kurdish-majority areas, but small contingents of security forces reporting to the interior ministry will enter the cities of al-Hassakeh and Qamishli to secure state-affiliated institutions such as the civil registry, passport offices and the airport, and to restart work at those institutions.
Local Kurdish police forces will continue to patrol both cities and will eventually be integrated into the interior ministry as well.
The entry of government forces into al-Hassakeh went forward as planned without any outbreaks of violence.
