The New York Times
Syrian Government and Kurdish-Led Militia Seal a Deal to Merge Forces
The long-anticipated agreement closes a period of intense uncertainty in northeastern Syria after rebel forces led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now the president, seized power in December 2024.
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Two people in tactical vests hold guns on a dark street. A large orange fire burns in the foreground with smoke.
Kurdish security forces in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, this month. Fighting in the area had threatened to reignite a full-blown conflict.Credit...Ethan Swope/Getty Images
Christina Goldbaum
By Christina Goldbaum
Reporting from Beirut, Lebanon
Jan. 30, 2026
Syria’s government and a powerful Kurdish-led militia reached a comprehensive agreement on Friday to integrate Kurdish forces into the Syrian military, according to Kurdish leaders and a Syrian official, the most decisive step yet to bringing calm after clashes between the sides had threatened to reignite a full-blown conflict in the country’s northeast.
The agreement included the formation of a Syrian military division made up of three brigades from the Kurdish-led militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces, as well as the integration of Kurdish-led civil institutions into Syria’s central government. Government forces that had amassed along a front line in the north would also withdraw.
“The agreement aims to unify Syrian territory and achieve full integration in the region by strengthening cooperation between the concerned parties and unifying efforts to rebuild the country,” according to the text of the deal that was published by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
A Syrian government official confirmed the agreement, which was also reported in state media, to The New York Times. The official requested anonymity to speak to the news media about the deal.
The deal closes a period of intense uncertainty in northeastern Syria after forces led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, now the Syrian president, toppled the Assad government and seized power in December 2024.
For months, the two sides tried to negotiate a deal with no success. The tide shifted once Mr. al-Sharaa made a military push into Kurdish territory and the United States withdrew support for the Kurdish militia.
The United States had viewed the Syrian Democratic Forces as its main ally in Syria in the fight against the terrorist group the Islamic State. Washington has since thrown its weight behind Mr. al-Sharaa’s government.
The U.S. special envoy for Syria, Thomas J. Barrack Jr., welcomed the agreement in a social media statement on Friday as “a profound and historic milestone in Syria’s journey toward national reconciliation, unity, and enduring stability.”
The Kurdish-led forces were the largest of several armed groups in Syria that demanded greater political representation and territorial control from the new Syrian government. Syria’s Kurds, who constitute about 10 percent of the population, have also established a civil administration that governs a region that is roughly a quarter of the country.
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Mr. al-Sharaa has insisted that Syria be united under a central government and military. Yet parts of the southern provinces of Sweida and Quneitra, and much of eastern Syria, remain outside government control.
After Mr. al-Sharaa came to power, his government engaged in negotiations with Kurdish leaders over integrating their forces and administration into the new Syrian state. The talks were widely seen as a test for how much power Mr. al-Sharaa would decentralize to parts of the country skeptical of his Islamist government and seeking some autonomy from it.
Those discussions stalled late last year and missed an end-of-December deadline for the Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the group’s armed units and administration into the central government.
Once that deadline passed, Mr. al-Sharaa appeared to run out of patience. His forces launched an offensive in the northeast, capturing large areas once under Kurdish control. After the United States withdrew support, the leader of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, agreed both to a broader cease-fire deal and to enter into more serious discussions about how his forces would integrate into the government.
The agreement on Friday brought those discussions largely to a conclusion. It included the creation of a brigade for Kurdish fighters in Kobani, a town held by the Syrian Democratic Forces that was under siege after clashes between government troops and the militia broke out this month. Government forces would also be allowed to enter Hasaka and Qamishli, two cities under Kurdish control.
“Just a few days ago, it looked like things were heading toward another round of military confrontation,” said Noah Bonsey, a Syria expert at the International Crisis Group, a research organization. “Now instead of that, we have the two sides sticking with the negotiations and reaching an agreement which starts to bridge a lot of the key gaps that have prevented fulfilling integration thus far.”
While many welcomed the deal, the two sides still need to hammer out details over issues such as the integration process and the degree of autonomy that Kurdish brigades will have.
It also remains unclear whether American forces in the northeast will remain there once the central government takes full control of the region.
Abdul Salam Ahmad, the representative in Lebanon of the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of North and Eastern Syria, said that the real test depended on how the deal is implemented. “The devil is in the details,” he said.
In Raqqa, the largest city overseen by the Kurds, a crowd gathered at the main square on Friday to celebrate. In recent days, many residents had expressed fear that government troops would move into the city and clash with Kurdish forces.
“It was our wish that they could reach a peaceful agreement and stop the bloodshed,” said Maha al-Hamidi, 38, a lawyer and activist. “We don’t want conflict with anyone.”
Carlotta Gall, Hwaida Saad and Reham Mourshed contributed reporting.
Christina Goldbaum is The Times’s bureau chief in Beirut, leading coverage of Lebanon and Syria.
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