Syrian Forces Deploy in Kurdish Areas  02/04 06:12

   

   QAMISHLI, Syria (AP) -- Security forces affiliated with Syria's Interior 
Ministry continued Tuesday to deploy in Kurdish-dominated areas in northeastern 
Syria as part of an agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian 
Democratic Forces.

   A convoy of security forces entered the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli, 
in the countryside of al-Hasakah province -- where they entered on Monday.

   Under the deal, small contingents of security forces reporting to the 
Interior Ministry will enter Kurdish-majority areas. Their mandate is limited 
to securing state-affiliated institutions, including civil registry offices, 
passport departments and the airport, and to restart work at those facilities.

   Security was visibly tightened on Amuda Street, the main road leading into 
Qamishli, ahead of the deployment. Streets were largely empty since the SDF 
imposed a curfew, with shops shuttered and heavily armed SDF personnel and 
local Kurdish security forces spread across major roads and intersections.

   Some fighters had their faces covered, and several women were among the 
forces deployed. Yellow flags of the Kurdish People's Protection Units were 
seen alongside Kurdish flags lining closed storefronts.

   "We are coordinating with the other side inside Qamishli for our forces to 
deploy inside the city," said the spokesperson for the Syrian Interior 
Ministry, Nour al-Din al-Baba.

   "There is a program and a time frame to finalize all of the deal's clauses, 
among them is taking over the vital facilities, including the crossings, the 
Qamishli airport and oil facilities, managing them and making them operational 
in the service of the Syrian people," he added.

   Samer Ahmad, a member of the local Kurdish security forces, told the AP that 
Kurdish forces remain in control of security in the city as he held his rifle 
and monitored the situation in Qamishli.

   "All necessary measures have been taken, and our forces are ready to 
confront sleeper cells and those seeking to carry out acts of sabotage," Ahmad 
said.

   "The incoming (government) forces will be deployed at four points in the 
city of Qamishli, and their presence here will be temporary. God willing, in 
the coming period, once integration is completed, they will withdraw," he added.

   Before arriving in Qamishli, convoys of security force vehicles bearing 
Syrian flags entered Tell Brak, east of Hasakah -- a focal area between 
Qamishli and Hasakah -- as crowds lined the roads, waving Syrian flags and 
cheering their arrival. People chanted through megaphones, "The Syrian people 
are one."

   Some men fired celebratory gunfire into the air while women ululated.

   "We hope that the Arab Syrian army becomes the one in control, and we hope 
this happiness is spread across Syria, north to south to east to west," said 
Adel al-Ahmad, who was among those welcoming the convoy.

   He expressed contentment over what he described as "the liberation of 
Al-Hasakah from the SDF as well as Qamishli, where the SDF is still present, in 
addition to Al-Jawaliyeh and Kahtaniyeh and Al-Malikiyah."

   Arab residents in SDFcontrolled areas have long complained of political 
and economic marginalization, while many Kurdish communities fear reprisals 
from governmentaffiliated fighters -- concerns sharpened by the widespread 
sectarian killings and retaliatory attacks that erupted across Syria in 2025, 
especially in coastal and southern regions.

   "We are happy with the entry of the internal security to Al-Hasakeh on the 
way to Qamishli," said Wissam al-Motlak, another spectator.