Damascus, February 3, 2026 — The Europe Today: A small contingent of security forces from Syria’s Interior Ministry entered the city of al-Hassakeh on Monday under an agreement between the central government in Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which control the city, media reports said.
The SDF announced the agreement with the Syrian government on Friday, aiming to stabilize a nationwide ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting during which the Kurdish-led force lost most of the territory it had previously controlled in northeastern Syria. The agreement outlines steps toward integrating the SDF into the Syrian army and police, as well as incorporating civilian institutions in SDF-held areas into the central government.
Under the deal, regular government military forces will not enter Kurdish-majority areas. Instead, limited numbers of Interior Ministry security personnel are to be deployed in the cities of al-Hassakeh and Qamishli to secure state-affiliated institutions, including civil registry offices, passport departments, and the airport, and to facilitate the resumption of services at these facilities.
Local Kurdish police forces will continue to patrol both cities and are expected to be gradually integrated into the Interior Ministry framework.
According to reports, the entry of government security forces into al-Hassakeh proceeded as planned without any incidents of violence.
