Syria’s interim government reached a landmark agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to integrate the group into state institutions. As a result of this agreement, the SDF which controls the oil-rich northeast Syria will now integrate its civilian and military institutions with the state. The deal will implemented by the end of the year. It will bring all border crossings with Iraq and Turkey, airports and oil fields in the northeast under the Syrian government’s control. Prisons where about 9,000 suspected members of the Islamic State group are also expected to come under government control.

Photos showed interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi shaking hands in Damascus. In a social media post, SDF General Commander Mazloum Abdî said that the agreement is a real opportunity to build a new Syria that embraces all its components and ensures good neighbourliness.

The agreement will place the northeast under Syrian government control for the first time since the Kurdish-led authority gained autonomy of the region in 2012 during the civil war.