The SDF agreed to rejoin national institutions in March after the government brought much of the autonomous region under its control. [Getty]
The Syrian army has begun to integrate brigades of Kurdish soldiers into its ranks, according to a senior military official.
This comes several months after Syria’s government reached an agreement with Kurdish authorities to gradually reunify the autonomous region with the rest of the country.
“Four brigades have been formed from the Syrian Democratic Forces and officially incorporated into the military structure,” Sipan Hamo, deputy defence minister for the eastern region, told Kurdish news agency Hawar.
The brigades have been deployed to Kobani, Hassakah, Qamishli, and Derik in northern Syria, he said.
Hamo was appointed deputy defence minister in March following the government’s agreement with the SDF.
During Syria’s civil war, he rose to become a leading figure in Kurdish military circles, founding the People’s Defence Units (YPG) in 2011 and later joining the SDF general command.
The SDF agreed to rejoin national institutions in March after the government brought much of the autonomous region under its control in a military offensive.
Under the deal, the SDF agreed for its members to join state institutions, hand over control of key infrastructure, and merge its administrative agencies with those of the central government.
They also agreed to set up three brigades of Kurdish troops to serve under the command of the defence ministry.
The defence ministry and the SDF are discussing further expanding the number of Kurdish troops in the army, which could lead to the formation of new brigades, Hamo told the news agency.
Earlier this month, the SDF began handing over control of the region’s prisons to the government and dismantling checkpoints.
Prior to the agreement, Kurdish authorities had controlled almost a third of the country’s territory since the early days of the civil war and the campaign against Islamic State.
President Ahmed al-Sharaa vowed to reunify the country after the overthrow of the Assad regime in December 2024 and had engaged in months of negotiations with SDF leader Mazloum Abdi.
Skirmishes between Syrian troops and SDF fighters culminated in a decisive government offensive in January that retook most of the region and forced Kurdish authorities into agreeing a ceasefire.
