SDF's Arms Handover to Damascus Put at $200 Million, Could Take Months

Rastinews — The transfer of heavy weapons and military equipment from the Syrian Democratic Forces' (SDF) arsenal in Rojava to Syria's Defense Ministry began on September 3. The equipment handed over so far is estimated to be worth around $200 million.

First convoy from Hasakah

Enab Baladi's Hasakah correspondent reported that the handover began on Thursday, September 3, with the ministry sending heavy-duty trucks into the city to move the equipment out. The transferred material included armored vehicles, self-propelled howitzers, Russian-made Ural trucks, BTR-type armored personnel carriers, and U.S.-made Humvees.

Loading took place at points around the Sabbagh intersection and the Talia camp. Some vehicles were loaded onto heavy equipment transporters near the Panorama intersection.

More than 30 tanks, over 50 armored vehicles

According to a report by Yılmaz Bilgen in the Turkish newspaper Türkiye, Kobani handed over 1,170 Kalashnikov-type rifles along with tanks, artillery pieces and armored vehicles. More than 30 tanks and over 50 armored vehicles were reportedly transferred, along with nearly 80 U.S.-supplied Humvees that entered the army's inventory.

Syrian analyst Abdurrahman Dede said that since September 3, the handovers have included tanks, BTRs and other armored personnel carriers, Humvees, self-propelled howitzers, Ural trucks, mortars and field guns, heavy machine guns, anti-aircraft guns, ammunition and spare parts.

Dede put the estimated value of what has been delivered at $200 million, and said that figure could rise to around $1 billion once all the weapons are handed over. He also claimed the value of weapons and ammunition previously seized along the Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor front lines exceeded $500 million.

An unnamed Defense Ministry source said the SDF's arsenal was not made up solely of U.S. aid, noting that weapons left behind by ISIS and the fallen Assad regime also account for a significant share.

No inventory, no timeline

Dede said no comprehensive handover inventory has been published, and that no definitive list has been provided for any region, including Qamishli and Kobani — meaning the process is moving forward on the basis of one-sided data. He said Syrian authorities are expected to share their own intelligence with the other side in the coming days.

Dede also claimed that factions within the SDF oppose the handovers or favor a more cautious pace, and alleged that hidden weapons caches have been dug in along the Iraqi and Turkish borders.

Abu Isa, commander of the SDF-affiliated Suwar Raqqa group, said the handover process could take months, that different factions exist within the organization, and that transferring all the weapons could take years. Turkish media reports have put the timeline at as long as a year and a half.

Abdi: not a handover, but integration into the army

Mazloum Abdi rejected characterizations of the SDF's dissolution as a "surrender." Speaking to Yeni Yaşam, Abdi said the SDF was joining the army brigade by brigade, in a planned, phased process under the agreement reached, and that the force would continue to defend the region.

The Syrian government and the SDF agreed on January 29 in Hasakah to integrate military, security and public-service institutions into ministry structures, with implementation beginning in phases in February.

In early 2026, the Syrian army took control of Hasakah's southern and eastern countryside and large areas to its west, while the SDF withdrew to major cities, chiefly Hasakah and Qamishli.

SDF Commander-in-Chief Mazloum Abdi announced on August 25 that the SDF and its affiliated structures had been dissolved. Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa appointed Abdi as a presidential adviser in a decree issued on August 27.

Interior Ministry-run Internal Security Forces entered central Hasakah on September 1 and took up positions at the Talia camp on the city's eastern approach.