FILE – Former members of Syria's Bashar al-Assad's security forces wait in line to register for the identification and reconciliation process, after the ousting of al-Assad, in Aleppo, Syria, Dec. 23, 2024.
Syria’s new authorities said Tuesday that armed groups in the country agreed to dissolve and be integrated into the defense ministry.
A statement said the decision followed a meeting between leaders of the armed groups and Ahmad al-Sharaa, who led the rebel advance that pushed longtime leader Bashar al-Assad from power.
Rebels seized control of Syria’s capital December 8 after a lightning advance that saw them claim several key cities in a matter of days after many years of relative stalemate in the country’s 13-year civil war.
Since Assad’s ouster, governments throughout the region have sent envoys to Damascus amid questions about Syria’s political future and concerns about additional instability in the region.
One concern is the potential resurgence of the Islamic State militant group, which seized areas of eastern Syria in 2014 and western Iraq before losing much of that territory.
The U.S. military said Monday it carried out an airstrike that killed two Islamic State militants in eastern Syria’s Deir Ezzour province.
U.S. Central Command said in a statement that the militants were “moving a truckload of weapons, which were destroyed during the strike.”
Also on Tuesday, the Turkish transport minister said Turkey is seeking to strike a maritime demarcation agreement with Syria after a permanent government is formed in Syria.
“Of course an authority must first be established there,” Abdulkadir Uraloglu, the minister, said. “It will be on our agenda for sure, but it\’s hard to say that it\’s on today\’s agenda.”
And in Egypt, Syrian refugees and residents are facing uncertainty as new regulations put into question their right to remain in the country following the fall of the Assad government in Syria.
Some information for this story was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
By：VOA
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