DAMASCUS: Syria appointed a senior Kurdish military official as regional assistant defence minister on Tuesday, following a deal to integrate Kurd forces into the state.

“Sipan Hamo has been appointed Assistant Minister of Defence for the eastern region,” a defence ministry official said in a statement.

Hamo, a leader of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, was among the figures who negotiated an integration deal with Damascus after clashes in January saw Kurds lose swathes of territory to government troops.

The deal included the gradual integration of Kurdish military and civilian institutions into the state. It laid out the integration of three SDF brigades into the Syrian army in the Kurdish-majority areas of Hasakeh.

Another brigade will be created for the pocket of Kobane, once a symbol of Kurdish fighters’ victory against the militant Islamic State group.

The deal was a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve the de facto autonomy they exercised after seizing vast areas of north and northeast Syria.

However it allowed the Kurds to nominate candidates for the positions of assistant defence minister and Hasakeh governor.

Noureddine Ahmed Eissa, a Kurd from the city of Qamishli, was appointed as Hasakeh governor by presidential decree in February.

Published in Dawn, March 11th, 2026