Overview
- SDF commander Mazloum Abdi announced the group’s dissolution and said its fighters have been integrated into brigades of the Syrian army, and President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a decree naming Abdi a presidential adviser.
- Damascus issued formal guarantees for Kurdish cultural and civil rights, including recognition of Kurdish language instruction and restoration of citizenship for many Kurds, and the Education Ministry set a curriculum plan for Kurdish-majority areas.
- The United States announced moves to remove Syria from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list and to delist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, steps that U.S. officials say open the door to private investment and official engagement with Damascus.
- Key implementation gaps remain: the status of the YPJ women’s units is unresolved, reports differ on how many fighters were absorbed, and questions persist over vetting, pay, pensions, and local control of oil fields and border crossings.
- The SDF began in 2015 as the U.S.-backed force that helped defeat ISIS, and its integration ends the largest independent armed actor in northeast Syria while raising risks of local unrest if promised rights and services are not delivered.