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Saturday, January 24, 2026
Syrian government, Kurds to extend truce by one month — sources
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DAMASCUS, Syria — The Syrian government and Kurdish forces have agreed to extend a ceasefire set to expire today, as part of a broader deal on the future of Kurd-majority areas, several sources tell AFP.
No official announcement has yet come from Damascus or the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), but two sources say the truce is to be extended by one month.
On Tuesday, Damascus and the SDF agreed to a four-day ceasefire after Kurdish forces relinquished swathes of territory to government forces, which also sent reinforcements to a Kurdish stronghold in the northeast.
A diplomatic source in Damascus tells AFP the ceasefire, due to expire on this evening, will be extended “for a period of up to one month at most.”
A Kurdish source close to the negotiations confirms “the ceasefire has been extended until a mutually acceptable political solution is reached.”
A Syrian official in Damascus says the “agreement is likely to be extended for one month,” adding that one reason is the need to complete the transfer of Islamic State group jihadist detainees from Syria to Iraq.
All sources request anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media.
After the SDF lost large areas to government forces, Washington said it would transfer 7,000 IS detainees to prisons in Iraq.
Europeans were among 150 senior IS detainees who were the first to be transferred on Wednesday, two Iraqi security officials told AFP.
The Times of Israel Community.