The Syrian government has signed a new agreement with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) that ends weeklong clashes in the country’s north and formally merges the group into the state, President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced Sunday, after government forces advanced in SDF-held areas of the country’s north and east.
According to the terms published by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the agreement provides for an immediate and comprehensive cease-fire across all fronts and contact lines between government forces and the SDF, which dominates the U.S.-backed terror group YPG.
The deal is to take effect in parallel with the withdrawal of all SDF-affiliated military formations to areas east of the Euphrates River as a preparatory step for redeployment.
Under the deal, the provinces of Deir el-Zour and Raqqa will be handed over fully and immediately to the Syrian government, both administratively and militarily. This includes the transfer of all civilian institutions and facilities in the two provinces.
The agreement stipulates that current employees in Deir el-Zour and Raqqa will be formally retained within the relevant Syrian state ministries, and that the government will not take punitive measures against SDF personnel or members of the civil administration in the two provinces.
It also stipulates the integration of all civilian institutions in Hasakah province into Syrian state institutions and administrative structures.
As part of the deal, the Syrian government will assume control of all border crossings and oil and gas fields in the region. These sites are to be secured by Syrian forces to ensure that revenues are returned to the state, according to SANA.
U.S. envoy Tom Barrack welcomed the deal.
“This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division,” Barrack said on X. The envoy met al-Sharaa in Damascus on Sunday and SDF leader Ferhat Abdi Şahin a day earlier in Iraq’s Irbil.
