Syrian security convoy enters key Kurdish city under US-backed deal

(Corrects day of the week in paragraph 5 to Monday)

By Orhan Qereman and Khalil Ashawi and Feras Maqdisi

QAMISHLI, Syria, Feb 3 (Reuters) – Syrian government security forces entered the Kurdish-controlled northeastern city of Qamishli on Tuesday, security sources and witnesses said, implementing a U.S.-backed deal to bring Kurdish-run regions back under central government control.

The accord, declared on Friday, staved off the risk of more conflict between Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which lost swathes of eastern and northern Syria to government troops in January.

Reuters journalists said the convoy headed straight to a security zone inside Qamishli for talks with senior Kurdish officials at the de facto political centre of the Kurdish-led administration that took shape during Syria’s 14-year civil war.

The government forces are expected to be stationed in several Syrian state buildings in Qamishli and also at the city’s airport, a Syrian official and a Kurdish security source told Reuters ahead of the deployment.

On Monday, Interior Ministry vehicles entered the city of Hasakah, about 80 km (47 miles) south of Qamishli.

The January 30 accord foresees a phased integration of Kurdish fighters with Damascus forces. The U.S. has hailed the agreement as a milestone towards unity and reconciliation after the war that fractured the country into rebel fiefdoms.

The SDF was once Washington’s main Syrian ally, playing a vital part in the fight against Islamic State militants.

But its position took a major hit as U.S. President Donald Trump cultivated relations with Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who has now brought almost all of Syria back under the authority of Damascus.

Earlier, Reuters witnesses saw hundreds of Arab villagers lining the route to Qamishli, welcoming the arrival of government forces along the highway toward the city outskirts.

Many Arab villages in Hasakah province have welcomed the end of SDF control over their areas, saying the Kurdish-led authorities had deprived their communities and marginalised them during their rule.

Those accusations are denied by the SDF leadership of Syrian Kurds, who were an oppressed minority under the Assad family’s 54-year rule and established de facto autonomy during the civil war in a largely Arab-populated region.

The SDF, which controlled Syria’s main oil fields and a basket of key commodities during its rule, says it sought to redress injustices by creating a system of governance that represented all ethnic groups and minorities.

(Reporting by Khalil Ashawi, Feras Maqdisi, Firas Al Daalati and Suleiman Al-Khalidi; editing by Aidan Lewis and Mark Heinrich)