Syria's President Ahmed al-Sharaa signs an agreement at the Presidential Palace in Damascus on January 18, 2026. (Photo by Rami al SAYED / AFP)
Damascus: The Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed today, Sunday, on an immediate ceasefire across all fronts in Syria.
According to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the agreement provides for a comprehensive and immediate ceasefire along all front lines and points of contact between Syrian government forces and the SDF, in parallel with the withdrawal of all SDF-affiliated military formations to areas east of Euphrates River as a preliminary step toward redeployment.
The agreement also stipulates the immediate transfer of administrative and military control of the governorates of Deir ez-Zor and Raqqa to the Syrian government, including the handover of all civil institutions and facilities.
It further calls for the issuance of immediate decisions to regularize the status of current employees within the relevant Syrian state ministries, and commits the government to refraining from any actions against SDF personnel and civil administration staff in the two governorates.
Both sides agreed to integrate all civilian institutions in Hasakah Governorate into Syrian state institutions and administrative structures.
The agreement also provides for the Syrian government to assume full control of all border crossings and oil and gas fields in the region, with their protection entrusted to regular forces to ensure the return of revenues to the Syrian state.
The agreement further stipulates the integration of all SDF military and security personnel into the structures of the Syrian Ministries of Defense and Interior on an individual basis, following the necessary security vetting.
Those integrated will be granted military ranks and financial and logistical entitlements in accordance with regulations, while ensuring the protection of the particularities of Kurdish areas.
SDF leadership also committed not to incorporate remnants of the former regime into its ranks, and to submit lists of former-regime officers present in northeastern Syria. The agreement further includes the issuance of a presidential decree appointing a nominee to serve as governor of Hasakah, as a guarantee of political participation and local representation.
The agreement provides for the removal of heavy military presence from the city of Ain Al-Arab (Kobani), the formation of a local security force drawn from the city's residents, and the maintenance of a local police force administratively affiliated with the Syrian Ministry of Interior.
It also includes the integration of the administration responsible for ISIS detainees and camps, as well as the forces tasked with guarding these facilities, into the Syrian government, which will assume full legal and security responsibility for them.
Both sides agreed to adopt a list of proposed leaders submitted by the SDF to assume senior military, security, and civilian posts within the central state structure, to ensure national partnership.
The agreement also welcomed Presidential Decree No. 13 of 2026, which recognizes Kurdish cultural and linguistic rights and addresses civil and legal issues related to undocumented persons and the restoration of accumulated property rights from previous decades.
The agreement reaffirmed the SDF's commitment to expelling all non-Syrian leaders and members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) from Syrian territory, to safeguard sovereignty and regional stability.
It also stipulates the Syrian state's commitment to continuing the fight against terrorism (ISIS) as an active member of the international coalition, in coordination with the United States, to ensure regional security and stability, and to work toward understandings that would enable the safe and dignified return of residents of Afrin and Sheikh Maqsoud to their areas.
