Syrian security forces gather before entering the town of al-Hassakeh to implement an agreement with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to stabilize a ceasefire, in Wadi al-Raml, al-Hassakeh province, eastern Syria, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)
February 01, 2026 - 10:52 PM
AL-HASSAKEH, Syria (AP) — A small contingent of security forces with Syria ’s interior ministry entered the city of al-Hassakeh on Monday as part of a deal between Damascus and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which control the city.
The SDF announced the new agreement with the central government on Friday, aiming to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting. It lays out steps toward integrating the force into the army and police forces and integrating civilian institutions in SDF-controlled areas into the central government.
Under the deal, government military forces will not enter Kurdish-majority areas, but small contingents of security forces reporting to the interior ministry will enter the cities of al-Hassakeh and Qamishli to secure state-affiliated institutions such as the civil registry, passport offices and the airport, and to restart work at those institutions.
Also Monday, a court in Iraq announced that it has begun investigative procedures with 1,387 accused members of the Islamic State group who were recently transferred by the U.S. military from prisons in Syria to Iraq.
The First Investigative Court in the Karkh district of Baghdad said in a statement that the investigations are being carried out by specialized judges in counterterrorism under the direct supervision of the president of the Supreme Judicial Council.
Altogether, around 7,000 accused IS militants are set to be transferred from Syria to Iraq for trial. Amid the fighting between the SDF and government forces last month, some suspected IS members escaped from one prison, although the government said most were later captured.
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Abdul-Zahra reported from Baghdad.
News from © The Associated Press, 2026