Syrian Government and Kurdish-Led Force Agree to Merge After Clashes

The new unity deal also calls for a cease-fire. Government forces have taken over a number of strategic assets from the Kurdish-led militia in recent days, weakening the force.People toppling a statue of a female Kurdish fighter on Sunday in Tabqa, eastern Syria, after government forces captured the area.Credit...Ghaith Alsayed/Associated PressJan. 18, 2026, 11:31 a.m. ETThe Syrian Government and a Kurdish-led militia agreed on Sunday to an immediate cease-fire, after weeks of on-and-off clashes, and to a full integration of the militia into the national military forces, according to state media.It is not the first time that the government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or S.D.F., have reached such a deal. But the 14-point agreement came after two days of significant territorial advances by government forces into areas long held by the S.D.F., which left the force in a significantly weaker negotiating position.As part of the deal, the S.D.F. agreed to hand over the northern province of Raqqa and the eastern province of Deir al Zour. That will leave only one province, northeastern Hasakah, in S.D.F. hands.The government institutions in a largely autonomous northeastern region dominated by Kurds will also come under the central government’s authority, according to the agreement.The government will also take control of all the country’s gas and oil fields, nearly all of which have been under S.D.F. control.Muhammad Haj Kadour contributed reporting.Raja Abdulrahim reports on the Middle East and is based in Jerusalem.SKIP