All-female Kurdish force in Syria to join Interior Ministry

Editor's note: this story was translated from the original VOA Kurdish article.

The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) has announced that Syria’s Ministry of Interior has agreed to integrate two special battalions of the all-female Kurdish force. The announcement comes after months of negotiations between Syrian government officials and Kurdish leaders over the future of the force, following an agreement to integrate northeast Syria into state institutions.

Ruksen Mohamed, a spokesperson for the Kurdish group, said Thursday that the interim Syrian government has agreed to integrate 800 YPJ fighters into two special battalions under the Ministry of Interior. The Syrian government has yet to confirm the announcement.

The YPJ was a major component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), once a U.S. partner in the fight against the Islamic State terror group in Syria. The SDF formally announced its dissolution in August 2026, after government forces took control of the region it had administered in northeast Syria.

The Kurdish group said it had also submitted the names of nearly 1,500 other personnel but had received no response from Syrian authorities regarding their status.

VOA contacted the Syrian government for comment but had not received a response.

Since negotiations over the integration of Kurdish-led forces and institutions into the Syrian state officially began more than a year ago, the status of Kurdish female fighters has been a major point of contention. The Islamist-led Syrian government has opposed integrating Kurdish female fighters into the country's military but has shown some flexibility toward incorporating them into police forces and other local security structures.

Political observers say a lack of transparency surrounding the integration process has further complicated negotiations between the two sides.

“When the specific method for integrating these forces has not been officially announced, it implies that negotiations are still underway and have not yet concluded,” said Abdulhalim Sulaiman, a political observer based in Qamishli, Syria.

“I believe there are ongoing discussions over the specifics and details, determining exactly how the YPJ will be incorporated into Syria’s security structure, particularly within the Kurdish regions,” he told VOA.

Gulistan Gulo, a spokesperson for the Star Congress, an umbrella organization for women’s groups in northeast Syria, said any attempt to marginalize the YPJ or strip it of its military identity would likely face opposition within the Kurdish community, where the female fighters are widely respected for their sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.

“We do not agree with the interim government’s position that the YPJ cannot be accepted as a military force within the army,” she told VOA. “The YPJ belongs to the Ministry of Defense and the army, given its years of military experience.”