The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday that they had agreed to a comprehensive ceasefire and the gradual integration of military and administrative bodies into the Syrian state.

The Syrian government confirmed the deal to the Reuters news agency.

This announcement follows recent clashes in which government troops seized most of the territory that the SDF had controlled in northeastern Syria for over a decade.

What do we know about the deal?

According to the agreement, the SDF will withdraw from the front lines, security forces affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior will enter the cities of Hassakeh and Qamishli in the northeast.

Then, the process of integrating the SDF and government forces would begin. This would include the formation of a new military formation consisting of three SDF brigades, as well as the formation of an SDF brigade within a government brigade in Aleppo province.

Meanwhile, local institutions and their employees in the Kurdish-led government of northeastern Syria are to be integrated into state institutions.

The agreement also includes "civil and educational rights for the Kurdish people, and guaranteeing the return of the displaced to their areas," the SDF said in a statement.

"The agreement aims to unify the Syrian territories and achieve the full integration process in the region by enhancing cooperation between the concerned parties and unifying efforts to rebuild the country," it added.

Why were Syrian army and SDF clashing?

In early January, fighting broke out between the Syrian army and Kurdish-led forces after negotiations between Damascus and the SDF stalled over a March 2025 agreement. The agreement aimed to integrate their forces and allow the central government to take control of institutions in the northeast, including border crossings and oil fields.

During Syria's civil war, the SDF was considered the United States' most important ally in combating the "Islamic State" group. However, Washington has moved closer to Damascus under the new interim President, Ahmad al-Sharaa, after his Islamist forces toppled Bashar Assad's government in December 2024. The US did not intervene militarily in this month's fighting, but it pushed the two sides to reach an agreement.

The Syrian government has accused the SDF of tolerating Assad loyalists and members of the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) — which has agreed to disarm under its own deal with Turkey after an insurgency spanning four decades — within its ranks. In turn, Kurdish representatives distrusted assurances by al-Sharaa, the former leader of the Islamist group HTS, that their rights will be protected. 

Turkey opposes the SDF, viewing it as an offshoot of the PKK.

Edited by: Saim Dušan Inayatullah