Syria government and Kurdish-led S.D.F. agree to cease-fire and unity deal

The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces agreed on Sunday to an immediate cease-fire and to a full integration of the militia into national military forces, according to state media.

The agreement is a 14-point deal that, the report said, requires the S.D.F. to hand over the northern province of Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir al Zour, leaving only the northeastern province of Hasakah in S.D.F. hands. Government institutions in the largely autonomous, Kurdish-dominated northeastern region will come under central authority, and the government will take control of the country’s gas and oil fields, nearly all of which had been under S.D.F. control.

The accord followed two days of significant territorial advances by government forces into areas long held by the S.D.F., which the report said left the militia in a significantly weaker negotiating position. It is not the first time such a deal has been reached between the parties, the report added.

The report included images of people toppling a statue of a female Kurdish fighter in Tabqa, eastern Syria, after government forces captured the area. Further details on implementation timing or verification mechanisms were not provided in the state media account cited in the report.

Key Topics

World, Syrian Government, Syrian Democratic Forces, Raqqa, Deir Al-zour, Hasakah