ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced on Friday that it has reached a “comprehensive agreement” with Syria’s transitional government in Damascus, which includes allowing security forces affiliated with the Ministry of Interior to enter the northeastern cities of Hasaka and Qamishli.
The agreement stipulates that government forces will enter the Kurdish-controlled northeastern cities of Hasaka and Qamishli, while three army brigades will be formed from SDF forces.
“A ceasefire agreement was reached between the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under a comprehensive framework, with an understanding on the phased integration of military and administrative forces between the two sides,” the SDF said in a statement.
The group added that the agreement includes “the withdrawal of military forces from contact points, the entry of security forces affiliated with the Ministry of Interior into the city centers of Hasaka and Qamishli, and the commencement of the integration of security forces in the region.”
According to the statement, both sides also agreed to form “a military division comprising three brigades from the SDF, in addition to the formation of a brigade from the Kobane forces within a division affiliated with the Aleppo Governorate.”
“The agreement also includes the integration of the institutions of the Autonomous Administration into the institutions of the Syrian state,” it added.
The agreement comes after weeks of intense fighting between the SDF and Damascus-affiliated factions after a large-scale offensive which aimed at capturing territory held by the Kurdish-led SDF in northern and northeastern Syria.
The SDF functions as the de facto military force in Rojava and remains a key partner of the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat the Islamic State (ISIS).
The major offensive led to gradual withdrawal of the SDF from areas under their control including regions in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, and near the predominantly Kurdish province of Hasaka in eastern Rojava.
The bulk of the areas seized by Damascus and its allied forces were previously liberated by Kurdish-led fighters from ISIS following the group’s declaration of its so-called caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
Under mounting pressure from members of the US House of Representatives and Senate, the US administration brokered a temporary ceasefire between Damascus and the SDF. The truce was extended by 15 days on Saturday after the initial four-day period expired.
The ceasefire aimed to facilitate the safe transfer of ISIS detainees held in SDF-run prisons in northern and northeastern Syria to neighboring Iraq. It also intended to create space for accelerated negotiations between Syria’s interim government and the Kurdish-led administration in Rojava.
According to United Nations estimates, the fighting has displaced around 100,000 people, most of them Kurds.
The Damascus-SDF agreement "guarantees the return of displaced persons to their homes."
Updated at 12:01pm