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 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. A Kurdish military source told AFP on condition of anonymity that 1,500 women fighters would be integrated into an interior ministry force.
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. 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”. Kurdish officials have previously said that at the height of the conflict, women made up around a third of all Kurdish forces.
