![\"Mazloum](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AFP__20260825__C6GX23B__v1__MidRes__SyriaConflictKurds-1787684387.jpg\")
Mazloum Abdi, foreground, leader of the SDF, arrives at the presidential palace in Damascus on August 25, 2026, to announce the armed group\u2019s dissolution [Bakr Alkasem\/AFP]<\/p>\nThe leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which spearheaded the fight against ISIL (ISIS) in Syria, has announced the group\u2019s dissolution as part of an integration plan agreed upon with President Ahmed al-Sharaa\u2019s government.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the presidential palace in Damascus on Tuesday, Mazloum Abdi said the SDF has completed its merger with the Syrian military and will cease to operate as an independent force.<\/p>\n
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The Kurdish-led group once controlled a de facto autonomous zone in Syria\u2019s northeast, but lost most of its territory to a government offensive in January. It then signed the merger deal, which also included the recognition of Kurdish cultural, civil and educational rights in Syria.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, we stand at a historic moment in which we turn an important page in Syria\u2019s history and begin to open a new page titled peace, stability and reconstruction,\u201d Abdi said in his address.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want this day to be the beginning of a true transition from the battlefields to the fields of construction, and from the era of weapons to the era of peace,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mazloum Abdi, foreground, leader of the SDF, arrives at the presidential palace in Damascus on August 25, 2026, to announce the armed group\u2019s dissolution [Bakr Alkasem\/AFP]<\/p>\n
The SDF had \u201ccarried a heavy responsibility during one of the most difficult periods in Syria\u2019s history\u201d, he said. But circumstances have now changed, with the country entering a new phase of peace.<\/p>\n
Therefore, \u201cwe announce the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and \u2060announce with full responsibility its dissolution as an independent military force\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Hugely significant moment\u2019<\/p>\n
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 al-Sharaa.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera\u2019s Heidi Pett, reporting from Damascus, said the SDF\u2019s dissolution was a \u201chugely significant moment for Syria\u201d.<\/p>\n
She said the SDF\u2019s fortunes shifted with Washington\u2019s backing of al-Sharaa\u2019s government and that the integration process had taken more than seven months due to unresolved questions about the group\u2019s heavy weapons and the future of the YPJ, the women fighters.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe YPJ had argued that they should be integrated into the Ministry of Defence, that they are professional soldiers \u2013 they fought against ISIS and want to continue being soldiers,\u201d she said. \u201cBut Damascus was only offering them the option of joining the Ministry of Interior as police officers. So these unresolved questions were part of the reason the dissolution wasn\u2019t formally announced until now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, questions remain about how the process will play out in northeastern Syria, she added.<\/p>\n
Under the 50-year rule of the Assad dynasty, Kurds were marginalised, with many denied citizenship. Abdi, in his address in Damascus, stressed that al-Sharaa also recognised the preservation of the Kurds\u2019 right to education in the Kurdish language. He added that they would work to implement education in the Kurdish language during the current year.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to build a new Syria for all its people \u2013 the Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and Assyrians \u2013 a unified and stable Syria that protects the future of its children and ensures a dignified life for its youth,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Washington\u2019s envoy to Syria hailed US President Donald Trump\u2019s role in the SDF\u2019s merger with the Syrian state.<\/p>\n
Tom Barrack said Trump\u2019s \u201cfar-sighted leadership\u201d had opened the path for the SDF\u2019s orderly integration. He also said the deal, in addition to recognising the Kurdish language in education, had secured \u201csubstantive roles\u201d in the Syrian government for Abdi and the head of the Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria, Ilham Ahmed.<\/p>\n
There was no confirmation from Damascus on the appointments, but according to local media reports, Abdi will be appointed as an adviser to al-Sharaa, while Ahmed will be appointed to the administration of Parliament.<\/p>\n
Barrack said the move \u201cpays due respect to their leadership, the sacrifices of our Kurdish partners, and the constructive contribution they have made to regional stability\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u2018Ripple effect\u2019<\/p>\n
Analysts, meanwhile, said the SDF\u2019s disbanding would help lay the ground for a united Syria.<\/p>\n
\u201cI applaud both sides, especially the government, for seeking the least confrontational path since the collapse of the Assad regime,\u201d said Saleh Mubarak, a Syrian-American professor and writer.<\/p>\n
The move will \u201chave a ripple effect on other rebels, in the south and probably in the west, that Syria will remain as one country \u2013 acknowledging and celebrating the diversity we have in every aspect: religion, sect, language, race\u201d, he told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
But while al-Sharaa\u2019s government has pledged to recognise Kurdish rights, including linguistic rights, it has \u201cso far fallen short\u201d of expectations in northeastern Syria, Mubarak said.<\/p>\n
Still, \u201cthere is definitely some reason to celebrate here, in terms of this agreement getting to this point without any major issues\u201d, he said. \u201cBut this is not the end of the story. And there\u2019s a lot of expectation on the part of the average Kurd that this is going to be a new era for everyone in Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n