In a significant development, the head of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), Mazloum Abdi, announced the dissolution of the group as part of an agreement reached with the Syrian government. The announcement was made on Tuesday evening during a televised speech at the presidential palace in Damascus. The SDF, once a prominent force in Syria's fight against ISIL (ISIS), had previously controlled a de facto autonomous zone in the northeast but lost most of its territory during a government offensive in January. The group has now merged with the Syrian army and will cease to operate independently. This move comes after the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, which led to closer ties between the United States and the new Damascus government, led by interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. Abdi emphasized that this is a step towards peace, stability, and reconstruction in Syria, adding that they aim to build a unified and stable Syria for all its people – the Kurds, Arabs, Turkmen, and Assyrians. On a cultural note, Abdi mentioned that al-Sharaa recognized the preservation of the Kurdish language in education. The United States Ambassador to Turkiye and Special Envoy for Syria and Iraq, Tom Barrack, praised President Trump's leadership for paving the way for the SDF's orderly integration into Syrian state institutions. This announcement follows the US removing Syria from its "state sponsors of terrorism" list, marking another step in closer ties between the two countries after the ouster of al-Assad.