Syrian government, SDF agree immediate ceasefire

The Syrian government and US-backed Syrian Defence Forces have agreed an immediate ceasefire on all fronts, Syrian state media has reported.

The ceasefire is due to run parallel with the withdrawal of all SDF forces to the east of the Euphrates, according to a document published by the Syrian presidency.

The deal entails merging all SDF forces into the defence and interior ministries after conducting required security checks, the statement said.

The government will also immediately and completely take over the Kurdish-held provinces of Deir al-Zor and Raqqa militarily and administratively.

All border crossings, and gas and oil fields in the area, will also be handed over to the Syrian government.

The SDF will be committed to evacuating all non-Syrian leaders and forces affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) outside of the country.

The document, shared by the Syrian presidency, showed the signatures of both Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF head Mazloum Abdi.

"All lingering files with the SDF will be resolved," state media quoted Mr al-Sharaa as saying.

He said he was set to meet Mr Abdi tomorrow.

US envoy Tom Barrack welcomed the deal including a truce between Mr al-Sharaa and Mr Abdi.

"This agreement and ceasefire represent a pivotal inflection point, where former adversaries embrace partnership over division," Mr Barrack said on X.

The envoy met Mr al-Sharaa in Damascus today and Mr Abdi a day earlier in Iraq's Erbil.

It marks the end of days of fighting as the army advanced into Kurdish-held territories in the northeast.

Syrian troops fighting US-backed Kurdish-led forces had seized the Omar oil field, the country's largest, and the Conoco gas field in the eastern Deir Zor province as allied Arab tribal forces had advanced in the oil-rich area along the border with Iraq, officials and security sources said.

The takeover of the oil fields that lie east of the Euphrates River - a main source of revenue for the Kurdish-led forces - was a major blow to the group.

Syrian government officials said the oil wealth the militia had controlled to sustain its self-administered region had deprived the state of much‑needed resources.

Mr al-Sharaa said last week it was unacceptable for a militia to control a quarter of the country and hold its main oil and commodities resources.

The Syrian army had pressed ahead into predominantly Arab-populated areas of northeast Syria controlled by the SDF, despite US calls to halt its advance.

A government source said Kurdish-led forces were overcome after advances led by the Arab tribal fighters, allowing the government and its tribal allies to move into a stretch of territory of more than 150km along the eastern bank of the Euphrates stretching from Baghouz near the Iraqi border towards key towns, including al-Shuhail and Busayra.

Syrian government officials said the advances effectively brought most of Deir al-Zor province - the country’s main oil-and wheat-producing area along the Euphrates - under their control.

Yesterday, the Syrian army entered Tabqa in Raqa province and drove Kurdish fighters from the city's military airport, the official SANA news agency reported.

Authorities also announced the capture of two oil fields in the area.

An AFP correspondent in Deir Hafer, some 50km east of Aleppo city, saw several fighters from the SDF leaving the town and residents returning under heavy army presence.

Syria's army said four soldiers had been killed, while Kurdish forces reported several fighters dead. Both sides traded blame for violating a withdrawal deal.

Kurdish authorities ordered a curfew in the Raqa region after the army designated a swathe of territory southwest of the Euphrates River a "closed military zone", warning it would target what it said were several military sites.

Syrian Kurdish leader and SDF chief Mazloum Abdi had committed to redeploying his forces from outside Aleppo to east of the Euphrates.

But the SDF said yesterday that Syria had "violated the recent agreements and betrayed our forces," with Kurdish forces clashing with troops south of Tabqa.

The army urged the SDF to "immediately fulfil its announced commitments and fully withdraw to the east of the Euphrates River".

The SDF controls swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast, much of it captured during the country's civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade.

US envoy Tom Barrack met Abdi in Erbil yesterday, the presidency of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region said in a statement.

While the United States for years has supported the Kurds, it also backs Syria's new authorities.

Read more: US announces 'large-scale' strikes against IS in Syria