Syrian Kurdish Forces Refuse to Disarm

The Kurdish fighters controlling northeast Syria have refused to disarm. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have launched a counter-offensive against the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) to reclaim territories near the Turkish border.

Recently it was revealed that Syrian opposition groups, which participated in the ousting of Bashar Assad, have agreed to come under the control of the country’s Ministry of Defense, announced the de facto new leader Ahmed al-Shar’aa, head of the Islamist group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham. Last week, the prime minister of the Syrian interim government, Muhammad Bashir, stated that the Syrian armed forces would be reformed by incorporating opposition fighters and army officers who had previously defected from the Syrian military.

The new Defense Minister appointed is Murhafaa Abu Qasran, a senior representative of Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, whose fighters led the rebels' assault on the capital, Damascus.