Syrian Democratic Forces Dissolve and Integrate Into Syria’s National Army

On 25/08/2026, Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) commander Mazloum Abdi formally announced in Damascus that the Kurdish-led force had dissolved as an independent military organization after completing its integration into the Syrian Army. Speaking at the People’s Palace, Abdi declared the end of the SDF’s mission and said its forces had been incorporated into Syrian Army brigades. The announcement also covered the dissolution of the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration in northeastern Syria and the integration of its affiliated civilian and military institutions into the Syrian state. The SDF had been established in 2015 and became the principal United States-backed ground force fighting Islamic State in northeastern Syria. At its height, it controlled large areas of the northeast, including strategically important territory containing oil and gas resources. Its political partners developed an autonomous governing structure commonly known as the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. The political environment changed after the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government in December 2024 and the establishment of a new government in Damascus under Ahmed al-Sharaa. A formal roadmap toward integration had been signed in Damascus on 10/03/2025 by al-Sharaa and Abdi. That agreement called for the SDF’s civilian and military institutions to be incorporated into Syrian state structures and specifically covered border crossings, oil and gas fields and other facilities in northeastern Syria. Implementation subsequently became difficult, with disagreements over military command arrangements, weapons and the future status of Kurdish formations, including the all-female Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ. The balance shifted further in early 2026. Syrian government forces launched an offensive that recovered much of the territory previously held by the SDF, after which Damascus and the Kurdish-led forces reached further arrangements for integration. The process ultimately resulted in SDF personnel entering the national military rather than maintaining a separate independent armed force. Syrian state media reported that the integration process extended for more than 17 months from the March 2025 framework agreement to Abdi’s August 2026 announcement. The political and administrative settlement went beyond the armed forces. On 25/08/2026, Abdi also confirmed the dissolution of the Autonomous Administration and affiliated civilian formations, with their institutions being incorporated into the Syrian state. This effectively ended the separate Kurdish-led administrative structure that had governed substantial parts of northeastern Syria. The transfer followed earlier steps that had gradually moved military, security, administrative and civilian responsibilities toward central state institutions. The settlement included commitments concerning Kurdish rights. Abdi said al-Sharaa had supported preserving the right to education in the Kurdish language, and the integration arrangements included recognition of Kurdish linguistic, cultural and citizenship rights. Abdi told the Damascus gathering that the objective was a unified Syria encompassing Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen and Assyrians. Some details of the new political arrangements remained unsettled immediately after the dissolution, including the precise government positions expected to be given to senior Kurdish figures and aspects of how integration would operate in northeastern Syria. The SDF dissolution also reflected a wider regional realignment. Turkey, which had long opposed the SDF because of its links with Kurdish groups Ankara associates with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), welcomed the dissolution as supporting Syrian territorial unity. The United States, previously the SDF’s principal international military partner against Islamic State, backed the integration process as relations between Washington and the al-Sharaa government developed after Assad’s removal. The announcement came one day after the United States removed Syria from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list on 24/08/2026, ending a designation that had been in place since 1979. Within days, Visa and Mastercard conducted international card transactions in Syria as financial links with the outside world began reopening. These developments were separate from the SDF agreement but formed part of the broader normalization of Syria’s international relations under the post-Assad government. At the People’s Palace, Abdi described the dissolution as a transition away from armed confrontation and toward reconstruction. The announcement formally ended the independent military existence of an organization that had spent more than a decade controlling territory, administering security and serving as a central partner in the campaign against Islamic State in Syria. Its fighters, security structures and associated autonomous institutions were instead placed within the institutions of the Syrian state.