Syrian government forces started entering the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli on Tuesday under an integration deal agreed with the Kurds last week, state media reported.
The move comes after security personnel entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city of Hasakeh and the countryside around the Kurdish town of Kobane a day earlier, as part of the comprehensive agreement to gradually integrate Kurdish forces and institutions into the state.
“A convoy of internal security forces began entering the city of Qamishli,” the official SANA news agency said.
An AFP correspondent saw armored vehicles and personnel moving towards the outskirts of the city, which has been the main stronghold of the Kurds’ de facto autonomous administration.
Kurdish forces have imposed a curfew on Qamishli city until 6:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday “to maintain the security, stability and the safety of residents.”
Another AFP correspondent saw shops closed and streets empty since early morning except for Kurdish security personnel, with Kurdish flags flying and banners raised.
Limited entry
Kurdish forces have ceded swathes of territory to advancing government troops in recent weeks following months of tensions and sporadic clashes as Syria’s new authorities seek to impose their authority across the country.
Marwan al-Ali, the new head of internal security in Hasakeh province, had said the government convoy would include a limited number of personnel and vehicles, with the integration of Kurdish security forces into the interior ministry’s ranks to follow.
Friday’s deal “seeks to unify Syrian territory,” including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the “gradual integration” of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions, according to the text of the agreement.
It was a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing vast areas of north and northeast Syria in battles against ISIS group during the civil war.
Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from Kobane in the north.
He added that a “limited internal security force” would enter parts of Hasakeh and Qamishli, but that “no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town.”
The United States, which leads a military coalition that had backed the Kurds’ campaign against ISIS, has drawn close to Syria’s new authorities and recently said the purpose of its alliance with the Kurdish forces was largely over.
As state forces deploy to Kurdish-held areas, only Druze-majority Sweida province in the country’s south will remain effectively outside government control.
AFP
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