The Women's Protection Units (YPJ), the all-female Kurdish force that fought Islamic State in northern Syria, have reached a preliminary understanding to join Syria's Interior Ministry, in the latest step of the Kurdish integration process.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on 6 November that the YPJ and the ministry had agreed in principle to integrate two YPJ battalions into the ministry's Special Tasks Forces. One battalion would cover Aleppo province, including Kobani and Afrin, while the second would cover Al-Hasakah, according to the Observatory.

YPJ spokesperson Ruksen Muhammed said the force would be recognised as a “special unit” divided into two brigades, with fighters' records submitted to Damascus for a response, Syrian Pulse reported.

Details still to be settled

Several issues remain unresolved, including representation, powers and organisational arrangements, and there is no timetable yet for a final agreement, the Observatory said. Further rounds of talks are expected.

The YPJ, which has about 1,500 to 2,500 fighters, initially sought to join the Syrian army, but Damascus rejected the proposal. In August, a senior Kurdish official told Rudaw the force had instead accepted a government proposal to join the Interior Ministry as a counter-terrorism force.

The deal follows the wider integration agreement reached in January between Damascus and the Syrian Democratic Forces, under which the SDF's structures are being absorbed into state institutions. Kurdish leaders have pressed for guarantees on language and political rights as integration proceeds, while Damascus insists state authority must extend across the whole country.