BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug 21, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, whose leader announced their integration into the state on Thursday, was the Washington-backed de facto army of the Kurds' autonomous administration in Syria and was at the forefront of the battle against jihadists.

After being Syria's most highly-trained and organised force for years, experts say the SDF's dissolution marks the end of an era to the country's Kurds, who had long dreamt of autonomy before the 2024 fall of Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad, which saw Washington drop them for the new US-friendly authorities in Damascus.

The force was formed in 2015 at the instigation of the United States, impressed by the Kurdish fighters who had defeated the Islamic State group in Kobane in the north, and seeking a reliable partner in the battle against the jihadists.

The SDF then spearheaded the battle against IS, which was defeated territorially in Syria four years later.

It amassed around 100,000 fighters at its peak, was composed of Kurds and Arabs and controlled swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast.

But following January clashes that saw Kurds lose large chunks of territory to government troops, the two sides signed a deal to integrate Kurdish military and civilian institutions into the state.

Arabs within their ranks also defected en masse after Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa's army took control of two previously Kurdish-held provinces, Raqa and Deir Ezzor, leaving them with half the strength they had before, according to Syria specialist Fabrice Balanche.

- The core -

Balanche said the SDF's hard core remained intact, comprising the People's Protection Units (YPG) of some 30,000 members as well as the all-female Women's Protection Units.

Mazloum Abdi, head of the SDF, did not mention the mechanism by which the force and the Kurdish security forces were integrated into the ranks of the Syrian state, following months of wrangling between the two sides.

"Dissolving for SDF means a bitter end" for the Kurds, Mutlu Civiroglu, a Washington-based analyst and expert on the Kurds, told AFP, adding that it marked "the end of Kurdish strength in Syria".

The Kurdish force was faced with repeated Turkish invasions between 2016 and 2019, with Ankara saying it wanted to push these fighters away from its border.

Turkey has long viewed the SDF as linked to the Kurdish militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which waged a decades-long insurgency in the country.

Following a call by its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK formally renounced its armed struggle against Turkey in May last year, drawing a line under four decades of violence that has claimed some 50,000 lives.

Despite denying any links with the PKK, "it is indeed the PKK that directs the YPG behind the scenes", Balanche said, referring to the People's Protection Units, the SDF's core base.

- 'Very successful' force -

"The YPG was formed in 2011 by PKK veterans," including SDF chief Abdi, Syria analyst Nanar Hawach of the International Crisis Group told AFP at a previous time.

The January agreement, under which Kurdish fighters would be integrated into state structures, stipulates that the SDF commit to expelling all non-Syrian PKK leaders and members from the country.

"While limited in number, they have held significant influence in command and administrative roles," Hawach told AFP, adding their numbers are estimated in the hundreds to low thousands.

In his speech on Thursday, Abdi acknowledged that "thousands of young Kurdish men and women" supported the SDF from "other parts of Kurdistan", referring to areas of Iran, Iraq and Turkey.

He also affirmed that, "at our request and according to a practical plan, those forces withdrew from here, and we can say that a new phase has begun in this region."

The SDF's integration into the state is a major victory for Sharaa, who has been trying to cement control over all of Syria since Assad's ouster.