The Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, are officially disbanding and merging into the Syrian army. SDF commander Mazloum Abdi, who led the force identified primarily with Syria’s Kurdish minority, announced Tuesday evening the dissolution of the organization, which once controlled a de facto autonomous region in the country’s northeast.
At a news conference at the presidential palace in Damascus, Abdi said the SDF had completed its integration into the Syrian army and had ceased operating as an independent force. The Kurdish-led force lost most of the territory it controlled in January during fighting with the Syrian army, after which it signed a merger agreement with the military.
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Mazloum Abdi makes announcement of the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces and their integration into the Syrian army
The SDF was once the United States’ main partner in Syria in the fight against ISIS. However, following the ouster of former Syrian President Bashar Assad in December 2024, Washington developed close ties with the new government in Damascus, led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa, who until then had headed an Islamist rebel organization.
“The SDF carried a heavy responsibility during one of the most difficult periods in Syria’s history,” Abdi said. “Today, circumstances have changed, and the country has entered a new phase, one of peace and participation in building a new Syria.”
He announced “the end of the SDF’s mission” and its “dissolution as an independent military force.”
“We want to build a new Syria for all its people,” Abdi added. “A united and stable Syria that protects the future of its children and guarantees them a life of dignity.”
Kurdish forces last January
(Photo: Abdulmonam Eassa/Getty Images)
During the Assad dynasty’s 50 years of rule in Syria, the Kurds were marginalized and many were denied citizenship. Shortly after the uprising against Assad began in 2011, Kurdish forces filled the vacuum created by the withdrawal of government troops from large areas of northeastern Syria. At one point, the SDF controlled about 25% of the country’s territory.
After Assad’s ouster, the Kurds initially took a cautious approach toward the new government and were unwilling to give up their autonomy. Some of the rebel groups involved in the unrest that led to Assad’s downfall were Turkish-backed forces that had previously clashed with the SDF. Turkey regarded the SDF as a terrorist organization because of its ties to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.
The Kurds questioned whether the new Sunni-led government would give them genuine representation in the new political system, while al-Sharaa sought to draw them closer.
'The SDF carried a heavy responsibility during one of the most difficult periods in Syria’s history'
Since al-Sharaa came to power, several agreements have been signed between the Syrian government and the SDF. The most prominent was the March 25, 2025 agreement calling for the integration of the Syrian Democratic Forces into the state, but it failed to bring an end to clashes between the sides. Tensions escalated again in January, and after days of fighting and reports of agreements and ceasefires that failed, the two sides announced another agreement.
During negotiations over a ceasefire with the SDF in January, al-Sharaa issued a decree strengthening Kurdish rights. The decree made Kurdish an official language alongside Arabic and recognized Nowruz as a national holiday. It also restored citizenship to tens of thousands of Kurds living in northeastern Syria after it had been stripped from them in the 1962 census.
Abdi and Al-Shara'a sign the agreement enshrining Kurdish rights in January
Abdi said al-Sharaa had promised that Kurds would have the right to study in their own language, an important issue for the country’s Kurdish population.
In February, Abdi was quoted as saying: “We will do everything to ensure continued security and stability in the region. In general, we can say that we are moving forward with the agreement. The most important aspect of the agreement is the integration of the institutions of the [Kurdish] autonomous administration into the Syrian state.”
The new Syria, under al-Sharaa’s rule, still faces the challenge of managing the country’s minority communities, including Kurds, Alawites and Druze.