ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syria’s defense minister announced on Saturday that all armed units have been integrated into the Ministry of Defense, unifying the country’s armed forces, though he gave “remaining small military groups” a ten-day deadline to complete the process. “Today, we convey to our honorable people the news of the integration of all units into the Syrian Ministry of Defense,” Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra said in a post on X. He said that the process to unify all the armed units under a single institutional structure began immediately following the end of the former regime. “Given the importance of institutional work, we stress the need for the remaining small military groups to join the ministry within a maximum period of 10 days from the date of this announcement, in order to complete the efforts of unification and organization,” he added, warning that any delay complying would be dealt with under the law. In December, the rebel coalition, including Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) that led the final offensive to oust Bashar al-Assad, agreed to merge into the Syrian defense ministry. The Syrian Democratic forces (SDF), which control the northeast, signed an agreement with Damascus on March 10, to integrate “all civil and military institutions in northeast Syria [Rojava] under the administration of the Syrian state, including border crossings, the [Qamishli International] Airport, and oil and gas fields.” Despite this deal, Kurds in Rojava are concerned about key decisions the new authorities in Damascus have made to centralize authority. The Damascus leadership in late April censured SDF's call for federalism, saying it contradicts their agreement.
