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Syria’s government signs breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces
Syria’s interim government has signed a deal with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s oil-rich northeast.
The agreement – which includes a ceasefire and the merging of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) there into the Syrian army – will bring most of the nation under the control of the government.
The government is currently led by Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al Sham, which helped to topple president Bashar al Assad in December.
Syria’s interim president Ahmad al Sharaa (R) shakes hands with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces. Pic: AP
Recent clashes have seen more than 1,000 people killed amid violence between government supporters and those thought to be loyal to the ousted leader.
On Monday, the deal was signed by interim president Ahmad al Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the US-backed SDF.
The deal – to be implemented by the end of the year – would bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields in the northeast under the central government’s control.
Prisons, where about 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State group are being held, are also expected to come under government control.
Syria’s Kurds will gain their “constitutional rights” including using and teaching their language, which were banned for decades under Mr Assad.
Hundreds of thousands of Kurds who were displaced during Syria’s nearly 14-year civil war will return to their homes.
The deal will also allow all Syrians to be part of the political process, no matter their religion or ethnicity.
Clashes between government supporters and those loyal to Bashar al Assad have seen more than 1,000 people killed. Pic: AP
A coffin carrying the body of Nawaf Khalil Baytar, who was killed during the recent wave of violence. Pic: AP
Syria’s new rulers are struggling to exert their authority across the country and reach political settlements with other minority communities, notably the Druze in southern Syria.
Earlier in the day, the government announced the end of the military operation against insurgents loyal to Mr Assad and his family in the worst fighting since the end of the civil war.
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Surge of violence in Syria explained
The defence ministry’s announcement came after a surprise attack by gunmen from the Alawite community on a police patrol near the port city of Latakia on Thursday spiralled into widespread clashes across Syria’s coastal region.
The Assad family are Alawites.
Pic: AP
Pic: AP
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Defence ministry spokesperson Colonel Abdel-Ghani said security forces will continue searching for sleeper cells and remnants of the insurgency of former government loyalists.
Though the government’s counter-offensive was able to mostly contain the insurgency, footage surfaced of what appeared to be retaliatory attacks targeting the broader minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shia Islam whose adherents live mainly in the western coastal region.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitoring group, said 1,130 people were killed in the clashes, including 830 civilians.
The interim president said the retaliatory attacks against Alawite civilians and mistreatment of prisoners were isolated incidents, and vowed to crack down on the perpetrators as he formed a committee to investigate.