The head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which spearheaded the fight in Syria against the ISIL (ISIS) armed group, has announced its dissolution as part of a deal struck with the government in Damascus. The SDF once controlled a de facto autonomous zone in Syria’s northeast. Abdi said the group has completed a merger with the Syrian army and would cease to operate as an independent force.
The Kurdish-led force lost most of its territory in northeastern Syria in January during a government offensive and then signed the deal to merge with the army. The SDF was once the main partner of the United States in Syria as it battled ISIL. But after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Washington formed close ties with the new government in Damascus, led by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the leader of the opposition forces that overthrew al-Assad.
On a cultural note, Abdi said al-Sharaa has recognised the “preservation of our right to education in the Kurdish language”, adding that they would work to implement “education in the Kurdish language during the current year”. Abdi’s announcement came a day after the US removed Syria from its “state sponsors of terrorism” list, a decades-old designation that came with severe economic restrictions. It marked another step in closer ties between the two countries after the ouster of al-Assad.
Al-Sharaa hailed the move, saying, “Syria shakes off a dark stain and tears away a painful chapter of its past to embark on a path of development, reconstruction and rebuilding.”
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