Syria govt forces enter Qamishli under agreement with Kurds

Syrian government forces entered the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli on Tuesday as part of a deal agreed last week to gradually integrate the Kurds' forces and institutions into the state.

Their arrival in the stronghold of the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration came after government security personnel entered the mixed Kurdish-Arab city of Hasakeh and the countryside around the Kurdish town of Kobane the day before.

Kurdish forces have ceded swathes of territory to advancing government troops in recent weeks following months of tension and sporadic clashes as Syria's new Islamist authorities -- who overthrew former ruler Bashar al-Assad -- have sought to impose their authority across the country.

An AFP correspondent saw vehicles including armoured personnel carriers enter the city and forces setting up checkpoints at its entrances.

Another correspondent said few people were on the streets inside Qamishli amid a curfew in place until Wednesday morning, with Kurdish security forces also lightly deployed and Kurdish flags and banners raised.

"I'm not comfortable at all about these forces entering our cities," said Mohammed al-Sayyed, 29, who works in a clothes shop.

"Our fear for the future is clear -- that they will repeat the experience of al-Assad in our cities, with arrests, kidnappings and security crackdowns," he told AFP by telephone, adding: "These fears are because I am Kurdish."

- Security headquarters -

Saad Mohammed, 35, a Kurdish language teacher, said the forces' entry was "good provided the government commits to guarantees on resolving the Kurdish issue within the constitution, and that the integration is fair for all Kurdish employees."

At the city's entrance, interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said work would be undertaken to integrate the Kurds' domestic security forces, known as the Asayish, "into the ranks and payroll" of the ministry.

He welcomed Syria's diversity and "all Syrian national personnel" wishing to serve the country.

More from this section

Ethiopia denies Trump claim mega-dam was financed by US

US prosecutors see no more charges after final Epstein file dump

Twenty-one friends from Belgian village win €123mn jackpot

State television reported that Baba and Marwan al-Ali, the new head of internal security in Hasakeh province, inspected the Asayish security headquarters in Qamishli ahead of its handover.

Friday's deal "seeks to unify Syrian territory", including Kurdish areas, while also maintaining an ongoing ceasefire and introducing the "gradual integration" of Kurdish forces and administrative institutions, according to the text of the agreement.

It was a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing vast areas of north and northeast Syria in battles against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group during the civil war.

- Kobane -

Mazloum Abdi, head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had previously said the deal would be implemented on the ground from Monday, with both sides to pull forces back from frontline positions in parts of the northeast, and from Kobane in the north.

He added that a "limited internal security force" would enter parts of Hasakeh and Qamishli, but that "no military forces will enter any Kurdish city or town".

On Monday, government security personnel also deployed to the countryside around Kobane, more than 200 kilometres (125 miles) from Hasakeh.

Hemmed in by the Turkish border and Syrian government forces, the town has long been seen as a symbol of Kurdish fighters' victory against IS jihadists.

The United States, which leads a military coalition that had backed the Kurds' campaign against IS, has drawn close to Syria's new Islamist authorities and recently said the purpose of its alliance with the Kurdish forces was largely over.

As state forces deploy to Kurdish-held areas, only Druze-majority Sweida province in the country's south will remain effectively outside government control.

str-lar/nad/lg/dc