Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband

Tue Dec 24 17:21:56 UTC 2024: ## Syrian Rebel Groups Dissolve, Integrate into Defense Ministry

**Damascus, Syria –** Syria’s new authorities announced a significant breakthrough Tuesday, December 24, 2024, reaching an agreement with various rebel groups to dissolve and integrate their forces into the national defense ministry. The agreement, confirmed by state-run SANA news agency and the government’s Telegram account, concludes a chapter in Syria’s protracted civil war.

Photos from the meeting showed de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (also referred to as Muhammad al-Jolani in some reports) with the heads of several armed factions. Notably absent were representatives from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeast.

Al-Sharaa, previously the head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, had declared on Sunday, December 22, 2024, a zero-tolerance policy for weapons outside state control, a statement that explicitly included the SDF. Last week, the military chief of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham affirmed the integration of Kurdish-held areas and emphasized the indivisibility of Syria.

This agreement marks a potential turning point after thirteen years of civil war that has claimed over half a million lives and left Syria fractured under the control of various armed groups backed by foreign powers. The long-term implications of this integration and the exclusion of the SDF remain to be seen.