Syrian security forces deploy in Kurdish areas under deal with SDF

Body

Security forces affiliated with Syria’s Interior Ministry continued to deploy in Kurdish-dominated areas in northeastern Syria on Tuesday under an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, the Associated Press reported.

The movement included a convoy entering the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in the countryside of al-Hasakah province, where the forces had entered on Monday, according to the AP. The deployment focused on bringing Interior Ministry contingents into Kurdish-majority areas in a limited role tied to state-affiliated institutions.

Under the deal, the security forces were described as operating in small contingents whose mandate was to secure facilities such as civil registry offices, passport departments and the airport and to restart work at those sites. The AP said security was tightened visibly on Amuda Street, the main road leading into Qamishli, before the forces arrived.

Ahead of the deployment, the AP reported that streets were largely empty because the SDF imposed a curfew. Heavily armed SDF personnel and local Kurdish security forces were spread across major roads and intersections, while some fighters had their faces covered and several women were among those deployed. Yellow flags of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units were seen alongside Kurdish flags lining closed storefronts.

Nour al-Din al-Baba, the spokesperson for the Syrian Interior Ministry, said the forces were coordinating with the other side inside Qamishli so Interior forces could deploy within the city. He also said there is “a program and a time frame to finalize all of the deal’s clauses,” including taking over “the vital facilities, including the crossings, the Qamishli airport and oil facilities, managing them and making them operational in the service of the Syrian people,” as cited by the AP.

Samer Ahmad, a member of the local Kurdish security forces, told the AP that Kurdish forces remain in control of security in the city while the government-affiliated troops carry out the temporary deployment. Ahmad said the incoming forces would be deployed at four points in Qamishli and that their presence would be temporary, adding that they would withdraw once integration is completed.

Before arriving in Qamishli, the AP reported that convoys of security force vehicles bearing Syrian flags entered Tell Brak, east of Hasakah—a focal area between Qamishli and Hasakah—where crowds lined the roads waving Syrian flags and cheering. People chanted through megaphones, “The Syrian people are one,” while some men fired celebratory gunfire and women ululated, the AP reported.

Not everyone’s expectations were the same, the AP said. Arab residents in SDF-controlled areas have long complained of political and economic marginalization, while many Kurdish communities fear reprisals from government-affiliated fighters, concerns sharpened by sectarian killings and retaliatory attacks that erupted across Syria in 2025, especially in coastal and southern regions. Wissam al-Motlak, another spectator, told the AP that he was happy about the entry of internal security in al-Hasakah on the way to Qamishli, while Adel al-Ahmad, who welcomed the convoy, said he hoped the Arab Syrian army would become the one in control and said the happiness should spread across Syria.