Syrian army troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces have withdrawn from front lines near the city of Hasakah, as they move cautiously towards integration under a January 30 agreement.
Syrian army units were seen moving to the borders of Hasakah province, sources told The National.
“At 7pm yesterday, the SDF withdrew from the outskirts of Hasakah city to several agreed-upon positions inside the city,” Kurdish journalist Akeed Mishmish, who lives inside the city, said. “Syrian government forces also pulled back around 60 kilometres south of the city, beyond Al Shaddadi, and about 60 kilometres to the east.”
The retreat from Hasakah is seen as a major step in putting the January 30 agreement into effect. It is a cautious attempt to reintegrate northern Syria into the state, while allowing Syrian Kurds to preserve a degree of local autonomy and secure national rights they were denied under the rule of deposed leader Bashar Al Assad.
“There is fear among the population, but people are calmer because they see that the agreement is progressing step by step,” Mr Mishmish said. “But Kurds are still scared because the agreement is a security agreement and there is still no constitutional or legal guarantee.”
Under the deal, government troops and SDF fighters on northern front lines are to withdraw, with Syrian internal security forces moving to the centres of Hasakah and Qamishli. It also provides for the formation of a military division comprising three SDF brigades, and the incorporation of a brigade in Kobani – also known as Ain Al Arab – into a division within Aleppo province.
During Syria’s 13-year civil war – in which several foreign powers backed disparate rival Syrian groups – the country fragmented along fluid battle lines. The ethnically mixed Al Hasakah province came under the administration of the Kurdish-led, US-backed authorities, along with much of northern and eastern Syria. In the north-west, Turkey backed various opposition factions, while the Assad regime retained control of much of the south.
In December 2024, a coalition of rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, the Islamist group that had governed Idlib province, drove Mr Al Assad from Damascus and into exile.
Since then, Syria’s new government has sought to consolidate control over the Kurdish-administered regions of the north and east.
“The withdrawal of Syrian government forces from Hasakah is the most important provision of the agreement because this is what gives the Kurdish forces the ability to retain military capacity that allows them to remain in their areas and defend themselves,” Mr Mishmish told The National.
