Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi announced late Tuesday the dissolution of the powerful Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which had been at the forefront of the fighting that led to the defeat of the jihadists of the Islamic State.

The decision comes in implementation of an agreement he signed earlier this year with Syria’s de facto president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, who says he is determined to “reunite” Syria.

“Today, we announce the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and declare, with full responsibility, their dissolution as an independent military force,” Abdi said during a speech delivered in two languages, first in Arabic and then in Kurdish.

He made the announcement at the presidential palace in Damascus, following a meeting with the Islamist president, the former leader of al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch who subsequently said he had severed all ties with the organization. Other Syrian Kurdish military and political leaders were also present.

The de facto Syrian government and the Kurds had been negotiating for months over the implementation of an agreement signed in January that provided for the full integration of Kurdish institutions into the new state apparatus.

Since taking power in 2024, the new de facto president, who overthrew Bashar al-Assad, has emphasized that he intends to reunite the country devastated by the long-running civil war and dissolve all armed organizations.

Amid the chaos of the civil war (2011–2024), the Kurds took control of large areas of northern and northeastern Syria and established autonomous authorities.

According to Syrian state television, Abdi’s announcement also provides for the dissolution of the autonomous administration and all military and political structures associated with it, and their full integration into the Syrian state apparatus.

The development follows the U.S. announcement the previous day that it was removing Syria from its blacklist of states accused of supporting “terrorism,” a key step toward rebuilding and reviving the country’s economy.

The SDF’s History

The SDF, founded in 2015 at the initiative of Washington, served as the military arm of Syria’s autonomous Kurdish administration and played a crucial role in defeating the Islamic State, with the support of the U.S.-led international coalition against jihadists.

At their peak, according to some estimates, they numbered up to 100,000 fighters, mainly Kurds and Arabs, while controlling vast areas in the northern and northeastern parts of the country, regions rich in oil.