The commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, announced late Friday that his forces will withdraw from current contact lines east of Aleppo by 7:00 AM local time on Saturday. They will then redeploy to areas east of the Euphrates River.
Abdi stated in a post on X that this move comes in response to calls from friendly nations and mediators, and as a show of good faith in completing the integration process and adhering to the terms of the March 10th agreement.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense welcomed the SDF’s withdrawal from contact lines west of the Euphrates. The Ministry stated that it would closely monitor the full implementation of the SDF’s withdrawal, including all personnel and equipment, to east of the Euphrates River. Furthermore, they will begin deploying army units to secure the areas vacated by the SDF and assert state sovereignty.
In a related development, a Syrian military source reported a complete cessation of shelling on SDF positions in the Deir Hafer area of eastern Aleppo province. This follows earlier reports that the Syrian army had shelled SDF positions in Deir Hafer, claiming the action was a response to attacks originating from the city by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and remnants of the old regime.
The source alleged that the targeted locations in Deir Hafer were military bases used by the SDF and its allies from which Iranian drones were launched towards the city of Aleppo. The source further claimed that these locations played a significant role in shelling the eastern Aleppo countryside and preventing residents from leaving.
President Ahmad al-Sharaa issued a special decree on Friday guaranteeing the rights and specific cultural identities of Kurds in Syria, and called on them to ignore what he termed “narratives of sedition.”
According to the Syrian Presidency, the first article of the new decree states that “Syrian Kurdish citizens are an essential and integral part of the people.” The decree also recognizes the cultural and linguistic identity of the Kurds as an inseparable part of the national identity and guarantees the right of Kurds to revive their heritage and develop their language within the framework of national sovereignty.
