Damascus [Syria], January 25: A four-day ceasefire between the Syrian government and Kurdish forces has expired, with pressure mounting on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to fully integrate its fighters into the Syrian army.
The ceasefire ended at 8pm (17:00 GMT) on Saturday, with no official announcement of an extension from either side as Syrian troops and SDF forces massed near the front lines around a last cluster of Kurdish-held cities in the northeast. Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa said on X that his government was "now considering its next options".
Earlier, Syria's foreign ministry denied that government forces had reached an agreement with the SDF on extending the deadline of the ceasefire deal reached earlier this week.
"There is no truth to what is being circulated regarding the extension of the deadline with the SDF," the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) quoted the ministry as saying.
As the Saturday deadline approached, SDF forces reinforced their defensive positions in the cities of Qamishli, Hasakeh and Kobane for a possible fight, Kurdish security sources told news agency Reuters.
The standoff comes amid rising tensions over the last year, as President Ahmed Al-Sharaa vowed to bring all of the country under state control after his forces toppled longtime ruler Bashar Al-Assad in 2024.
But Kurdish authorities who have run autonomous civilian and military institutions in the northeast for the past decade have resisted, leading Syrian troops to launch an offensive this month after a year-end deadline for the merger passed with little progress.
Syrian military officials told Reuters they were readying forces for a fight. Reuters reported seeing army vehicles and buses of fighters arriving near Hasakah, where SDF forces have also bolstered positions.
The Syrian army and the SDF agreed to a four-day ceasefire on Tuesday, after Kurdish fighters relinquished swaths of territory to government forces, which also sent reinforcements to a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast.
Source: Qatar Tribune
