Security units affiliated with Syria’s Interior Ministry have entered Kurdish-majority areas including Qamishli under a deal with the Kurdish-led SDF. The deployments are narrowly focused on securing state institutions — airports, registry and passport offices — and restarting services, while Kurdish forces say they continue to hold overall security responsibility. Convoys were welcomed in some towns, but deep-seated fears persist among Kurdish communities over possible reprisals following sectarian violence in 2025.
Government Forces Enter Qamishli Under Deal With SDF — Limited Deployments, Tensions Persist
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) combatants welcome the arrival of a convoy Syria's Interior Ministry security forces, deployed under an agreement aimed at stabilizing a ceasefire, in Qamishli, eastern Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
QAMISHLI, Syria — Security units aligned with Syria’s Interior Ministry continued to move into predominantly Kurdish areas of northeastern Syria on Tuesday under an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Local residents, predominantly Arab, welcome a convoy of Syria's Interior Ministry forces as it passes through en route to the mostly Kurdish town of Qamishli, where the forces are deploying under a ceasefire agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), near the village of Mazraat al-Nahar, northeastern Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
A convoy of Interior Ministry personnel entered the Kurdish-majority city of Qamishli in the al-Hasakah countryside on Tuesday, following an initial entry the previous day. Earlier convoys also arrived in nearby Tell Brak, a strategic town between Qamishli and the provincial capital.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) combatants secure the area after the arrival of Syria's Interior Ministry security forces, deployed under an agreement aimed at stabilizing a ceasefire, in Qamishli, eastern Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Under the terms of the deal, small contingents of government security forces will be allowed into Kurdish-majority areas with a narrowly defined mandate: to secure state-affiliated institutions — including civil registry and passport offices, crossings, the Qamishli airport and certain oil facilities — and to restore operations at those sites.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) combatants secure the area for the arrival of Syria's Interior Ministry security forces, deployed under an agreement aimed at stabilizing a ceasefire, in Qamishli, eastern Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Security was visibly tightened along Amuda Street, the main approach into Qamishli, ahead of the deployment. The SDF had imposed a curfew; streets were largely quiet, shops were closed, and heavily armed SDF fighters and local Kurdish security units were positioned at key roads and intersections.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) combatants, right, hold a Kurdish flag as they watch a convoy of Syria's Interior Ministry security forces deployed under an agreement aimed at stabilizing a ceasefire, in Qamishli, eastern Syria, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Baderkhan Ahmad)(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Some fighters covered their faces, and several women were among the forces on display. Yellow flags of the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Kurdish flags were seen lining closed storefronts.
"We are coordinating with the other side inside Qamishli for our forces to deploy inside the city," said Nour al-Din al-Baba, a spokesperson for the Syrian Interior Ministry. "There is a program and a time frame to finalize all of the deal’s clauses, among them taking over the vital facilities, including the crossings, the Qamishli airport and oil facilities, managing them and making them operational in the service of the Syrian people."
Samer Ahmad, a member of the local Kurdish security forces, told reporters that Kurdish units remain in charge of overall security in Qamishli as he monitored the scenes. "All necessary measures have been taken, and our forces are ready to confront sleeper cells and those seeking to carry out acts of sabotage," he said, adding that government personnel would be deployed at four points in the city on a temporary basis and could withdraw after integration measures are completed.
Witnesses in Tell Brak described crowds lining the roads to greet the convoys, waving Syrian flags, chanting "The Syrian people are one," and firing celebratory shots into the air while women ululated. Some residents expressed hope that government control would expand across the region.
At the same time, long-standing grievances and fears remain. Arab residents in SDF-controlled areas have complained of political and economic marginalization, while many in Kurdish communities fear reprisals from fighters aligned with Damascus — concerns that were sharpened by the sectarian killings and retaliatory attacks that swept parts of Syria in 2025.
The situation remains fluid: the deployment is limited in scope but symbolically significant, and both the Kurdish-led administration and Damascus will need to manage security, public services and local tensions as the agreement is implemented.
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