Syrian Government Takes Over Ain al-Arab Administration, Kobani, After January 29 Agreement With SDF

The Syrian government took over the administration of the Ain al-Arab region (Kobani) in the northeast of Aleppo province on Sunday, in a further step tied to understandings reached with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) under the January 29 agreement.

The head of the Ain al-Arab region, Ibrahim Muslim, assumed his duties for the first time from within the city, starting from the region’s headquarters that had previously served as the headquarters of the Autonomous Administration.

Al-Jazeera Net

Muslim arrived in the city of Ain al-Arab accompanied by a government delegation, and representatives of the Autonomous Administration and Kobani district administrator Mohammed Mohammed, together with a delegation from the Internal Security Forces, were on hand to discuss managing civilian affairs and implementing the administrative and security integration process.

The developments followed a meeting on Saturday between the SDF commander-in-chief Mazlum Abdi and Ibrahim Muslim in Hasakeh, with Kurdish political figure Anwar Muslim and Majd al-Din al-Shaykh, director of the Internal Security Directorate in Ain al-Arab, present.

In the same track, the Syrian Ministry of Interior announced in late April that it had taken over leadership of Internal Security in Aleppo Governorate for the Ain al-Arab Internal Security Directorate and began its duties officially.

On Sunday, the Syrian army said it had opened a humanitarian corridor to Kobani, where a UN convoy arrived to provide 'vital aid' to displaced people fleeing the fighting.

Le Monde reported that a humanitarian corridor was opened toward Kobani and that a first United Nations convoy arrived on Sunday, January 25, to provide 'vital aid' to those displaced by the fighting.

Al-Jazeera Net

The ceasefire between Damascus and the Kurdish forces was extended by fifteen days after the latter ceded whole swaths of territory to government troops, and on Sunday evening the two sides mutually accused each other of violations of the truce.

The Syrian regime's army, cited by state media, said it had been targeted by drones around Kobani, while the Syrian Democratic Forces accused the army of several attacks, including a bombardment that killed a child to the west of Kobani.

Céline Schmitt, spokesperson for the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) in Syria, told AFP that a UN aid convoy arrived Sunday in Kobani, and Gonzalo Vargas Llosa said the convoy consisted of '24 trucks carrying essential goods, relief items and diesel'.

In the Syrian Jazira, Hasakeh province and the Ayn al-Arab region (Kobani) are seeing efforts to merge the SDF into Syrian state institutions based on the January 29 agreement calling for administrative and military integration of the SDF.

“The May 18, 2026 episode of the program What’s Behind the News discussed developments in the Syrian scene after the government took over the administration of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) in the eastern countryside of Aleppo as part of the agreement signed with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) at the beginning of this year”

Al-Jazeera Net

نون بوست said security authorities are restructuring the Kurdish internal security forces known as the Asayish in preparation for their integration into the Ministry of Interior, with the ministry overseeing training of a large number of Asayish members nominated by the SDF leadership.

The latest development cited by نون بوست was on April 19, when Ahmed Al-Halali, spokesman for the presidential team tasked with implementing the January 29 agreement, announced that the Syrian government had taken over management of Hasakeh's central prison Gweiran and Qamishli's Alaya prison and begun inventorying and organizing records to regulate the status of detainees.

The same article described detainee exchanges, including on Saturday, April 11 at the Milibiya Regiment in the southern countryside of Hasakeh, where 90 detainees were released by the SDF in exchange for 400 detainees released by the Syrian government.

It also said Ahmed Al-Halali stated that "1,500 detainees have been released from SDF prisons to date" and that about 500 detainees remain to be considered, with the ultimate goal of closing the detainees file by handing over all SDF prisons in Hasakeh.