ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Syrian interior ministry forces deployed to the Kurdish-majority Hasaka province in northeast Syria (Rojava) on Tuesday and are set to expand across it, the province's deputy governor told Rudaw, adding that the force includes personnel from the Kurdish Internal Security Forces (Asayish) integrated under the landmark January agreement between Rojava and Damascus.
"Hasaka province will be treated like any other Syrian province - no differently," Ahmad al-Hilali told Rudaw's Vivyan Fatah, noting that "the nature of today's deployment is one of internal security" and that since Asayish members were "integrated into the state structure" under the interior ministry, they are naturally included in the deployment.
Hilali also serves as a senior member of Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa's team overseeing implementation of the January 29 Agreement, which aims to integrate Rojava's civil and military institutions under Syrian state structures.
He told Rudaw that Hasaka needs reinforcements, noting that the dispatched forces "will be deployed across the entire province - in Qamishli, in Derik, everywhere," and that "road security will also be established, and traffic police will be present."
"Across the board, under the umbrella of the interior ministry, forces will be deployed throughout the entire province under this name and in this form," he said.
A well-placed source in Hasaka also told Rudaw on Tuesday that the forces deployed to the province comprise "three regiments of special forces, all made up of Hasaka residents," adding that “two special-missions regiments had previously been formed from Asayish personnel and that a third regiment of around 300 members entered Hasaka city on Tuesday.”
The developments follow remarks Hilali made to Rudaw last week, in which he said that over 20,000 employees in Rojava have been integrated into Damascus' state structure.
"The integration process is ongoing. It is happening, and employees [in Rojava] are being transferred into the state system," he said, adding that 4,000 fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have been integrated and have been on the government's payroll for the past three months.
Hilali also pointed to "very good steps [that] have been taken" toward formalizing the Semalka-Fishkhabur border crossing between Rojava and the Kurdistan Region, as well as the Nusaybin crossing between Rojava and Turkey, which has been closed since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011.
On the services situation in Hasaka, Hilali said the province's electricity situation would gradually improve, after the Kurdish-majority province faced severe shortages in recent months.
"I can say the situation will improve step by step," he said,” adding that “the coming days will bring improvement on that front."
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