Syria Kurdish women fighters discuss merger with interior ministry

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The Syrian Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ) said on Thursday (August 27, 2026) it had discussed with the interior ministry integrating their fighters into the government's forces.

The announcement came two days after the head of Kurdish fighters in Syria, Mazloum Abdi, announced the dissolution of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) — which includes the YPJ — under an agreement with Damascus.

The YPJ said in a statement that its leadership met on Wednesday with a delegation from the interior ministry, during which "the possibility of integrating the Women's Protection Units, as a special and organised force, into the structure of the interior ministry, was confirmed".

It said meetings would continue "in order to complete and finalise the integration process" as part of the agreement signed between Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa in January.

After Syria's conflict erupted in 2011, Kurdish women fighters fought on the front lines against the Islamic State jihadist group, particularly in the 2016 battle to drive the extremists from Raqa, their de facto capital in Syria.

The women fighters later took on administrative and security responsibilities at the Al-Hol and Roj detention camps in northeast Syria for relatives of suspected jihadists, including thousands of foreigners.

While former Kurdish fighters are to be integrated into Syria's army, the military does not currently accept women in its ranks.

A Kurdish military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that 1,500 women fighters would be integrated into an interior ministry force.

On Tuesday (August 25, 2026), Abdi announced the end of the SDF's mission and "their dissolution as an independent military force" following "the completion of the process of integrating our forces into the brigades of the Syrian army".

The move closes a key chapter for Syria's Kurds after the SDF, backed by a US-led military coalition, spearheaded the fight against IS at the height of Syria's civil war.

Kurdish officials have previously said that at the height of the conflict, women made up around a third of all Kurdish forces.

Syria analyst Nanar Hawach of the International Crisis Group earlier this year estimated the overall number of Kurdish fighters at 20,000 to 30,000.

The SDF was the de facto army of the semi-autonomous administration which the Kurds set up in north and northeast Syria after seizing territory battling IS.