Security forces affiliated with Syria’s Interior Ministry continued deploying Tuesday in Kurdish-dominated areas of northeastern Syria under an agreement between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
A convoy of security forces entered the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in Hasakah province, following their arrival in surrounding areas a day earlier.
Under the agreement, small contingents of Interior Ministry forces are to enter Kurdish-majority areas with a limited mandate: securing state-affiliated institutions, including civil registry offices, passport departments and the airport, and restarting operations at those facilities.
Security was visibly tightened on Amuda Street, the main road leading into Qamishli, ahead of the deployment. Streets were largely empty after the SDF imposed a curfew, with shops shuttered and heavily armed SDF fighters and local Kurdish security forces positioned at major roads and intersections.
Some fighters had their faces covered, and several women were among the forces deployed. Yellow flags of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units were seen alongside Kurdish flags lining closed storefronts.
“We are coordinating with the other side inside Qamishli for our forces to deploy inside the city,” said Syrian Interior Ministry spokesperson Nour al-Din al-Baba.
“There is a program and a time frame to finalize all the clauses of the agreement, including taking over vital facilities such as border crossings, Qamishli airport and oil facilities, managing them and making them operational in the service of the Syrian people,” he added.
Samer Ahmad, a member of the local Kurdish security forces, said Kurdish forces remain responsible for security inside the city.
“All necessary measures have been taken, and our forces are ready to confront sleeper cells and anyone seeking to carry out acts of sabotage,” Ahmad said as he monitored the situation in Qamishli.
“The incoming government forces will be deployed at four points in the city, and their presence will be temporary. Once integration is completed, they will withdraw,” he said.
Before reaching Qamishli, convoys of security vehicles bearing Syrian flags entered the town of Tell Brak, east of Hasakah, as crowds lined the roads, waving Syrian flags and cheering. People chanted through megaphones, “The Syrian people are one.”
Some men fired celebratory gunfire into the air while women ululated.
“We hope the Syrian Arab Army becomes the force in control, and that this happiness spreads across Syria, from north to south and east to west,” said Adel al-Ahmad, who was among those welcoming the convoy.
He said he was pleased by what he described as the “liberation” of Hasakah from SDF control, while noting that the SDF remains present in Qamishli and other nearby areas.
Arab residents in SDF-controlled areas have long complained of political and economic marginalization, while many Kurdish communities fear reprisals from government-affiliated forces — concerns heightened by sectarian killings and retaliatory attacks that erupted across Syria in 2025, particularly in coastal and southern regions.
“We are happy with the entry of internal security forces into Hasakah on the way to Qamishli,” said Wissam al-Motlak, another spectator.