Damascus: SDF Dissolution "Very Close"
RastinewsThe Syrian government said the military, security and administrative integration process launched under the January 29 agreement is nearing completion. Ahmed el-Hilali, spokesman for the Presidential Committee overseeing implementation of the agreement and deputy governor of Hasakah, said an official statement on the SDF's dissolution would come "very soon." His remarks were also carried by other outlets today.
Speaking to Syria TV, Hilali said integration of military and security structures, along with civilian institutions, into the Syrian state system had reached an "advanced stage," adding that the most difficult items on the agenda had largely been resolved.
Three brigades to the 60th Division, Kobani's force to the 72nd
Integration is not confined to political statements. In a separate announcement in June, Hilali said registration and interview procedures for SDF members had been completed, with three brigades formed under the 60th Division in Hasakah and one brigade under the 72nd Division in Kobani. He said roughly 2,000 people had been sent to training camps in the Damascus countryside and would serve as regular soldiers in the Syrian army after training.
The military integration has also reached the command structure. A meeting held in Hasakah in May brought together Deputy Defense Minister Sipan Hemo, 60th Division commander Avad el-Casim, and other officers folded into the division's command, where the parties discussed accelerating military integration.
Nearly 9,000 names on internal security list
Plans for the future of internal security are also moving forward. Hilali said in early June that the first lists drawn up for absorbing Asayish personnel into the Syrian Interior Ministry included roughly 9,000 people, about 1,000 of them women. He said the integration would proceed only after individual interviews and identity and background checks.
The first steps have already been taken on the ground. Mahmoud Khalil Ali of the Asayish leadership said in June that integration had effectively begun, with roughly 100 officers initially expected to join the Interior Ministry's structure.
Progress also on prisons and detainees
Mutual releases have also taken place on detainees, one of the key items in the January 29 agreement. According to Syria's state news agency SANA, 232 SDF-linked detainees were released in Hasakah on May 8 alone; Hilali said the total number of SDF members released had passed 1,200 as of June 1.
What does the January 29 agreement provide for?
The arrangement reached between Damascus and the SDF provides for a ceasefire alongside the gradual integration of military and administrative structures into state institutions, the deployment of Interior Ministry forces to Hasakah and Qamishli, and the absorption of civilian institutions in the region into the central state apparatus. The military provisions also call for forming three brigades and a separate brigade for Kobani's forces.