Kurdish female commander says Syrian army will not enter Kurdish areas скачать в хорошем качестве

Kurdish female commander says Syrian army will not enter Kurdish areas

(1 Feb 2026) RESTRICTION SUMMARY: ASSOCIATED PRESS Qamishli, Syria – 31 January 2026 1. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Rohilat Afrin, Commander of Women’s Protection Unit YPJ: “The new agreement was made basically to prevent other massacres. Our people might not agree on the agreement that was made, but we wanted to prevent bigger attacks and to protect our areas, and therefore we made that agreement.” 2. Close of YPJ logo on Rohilat's arm 3. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Rohilat Afrin, Commander of Women’s Protection Unit YPJ: “According to our agreement, we will begin the integration and practical implementation process on Monday. This certainly cannot be accomplished in a single day, as we already have an established force and system here. To restore trust, practical steps are necessary.” 4. Close of Rohilat’s hands 5. Close of YPJ logo on Rohilat's arm 6. SOUNDBITE (Kurdish) Rohilat Afrin, Commander of Women’s Protection Unit YPJ: “It has been set in the agreement that the Syrian army will not enter the Kurdish areas, only a limited number of government security forces will enter to oversee the integration of institutions, after which they will withdraw. This is what we agreed on. I mean there won’t be any presence for Syrian army in our Kurdish areas.” 7. Various of YPJ fighter holding gun STORYLINE: The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces announced a new agreement on Friday with the country's central government in Damascus to stabilize a ceasefire that ended weeks of fighting and to lay out steps toward integrating the two sides. Rohilat Afrin, general commander of the SDF's Women’s Protection Units, or YPJ, told The Associated Press in an interview Saturday that implementation of the integration deal will begin Monday, with the entry of some government security forces into the Kurdish-majority cities of Qamishli and al-Hassakeh. “Only a limited number of government security forces will enter to oversee the integration of institutions, after which they will withdraw,” she said, adding that army units from outside of the Kurdish region will not enter Kurdish-majority areas. The main mission of the security forces entering the cities will be “to secure state-affiliated institutions such as the civil registry, passport offices, and the airport, and to restart these institutions,” Afrin said. Local police forces will continue to provide security in the cities. Both sides will have coordination committees, which will meet to “determine the integration plan and establish the appropriate timing and mechanisms,” she said. The deal agreed upon between the SDF and Damascus stipulates formation of a new military division under the command of the Syrian defense ministry consisting of three brigades made of up SDF fighters in Hassakeh province, in addition to the formation of a brigade of SDF fighters within a division in Aleppo province. There was no reference in the agreement to the future of the SDF’s all-female fighting units — a sensitive point as much of the Damascus leaders come from a conservative background and are opposed to women in combat. Afrin said the Women’s Protection Units “will join the brigades that will be established and maintain their independence within these brigades.” The central government has said that former SDF fighters will be approved to join the new brigades on a case-by-case basis, following security vetting. The agreement also stipulates the withdrawal of militants from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK - a Kurdish separatist movement that has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey - from Syria. AP video by Hogir el Abdo Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...