Washington welcomed a prisoner and detainee exchange between the Syrian government and armed factions in the predominantly Druze southern province of Sweidah, as Damascus pressed ahead with efforts to fold Kurdish security forces into the state apparatus.
Syria’s Interior Ministry said the Internal Security Command in Aleppo province had taken over the Internal Security Directorate building in Ain al-Arab — known to Kurds as Kobani — and begun operating from the site.
The move is part of steps to integrate the Kurdish Asayish forces into the government’s security structure.
The state is seeking to reassert control over official institutions in areas that until recently were under the influence of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which had controlled large parts of northern and northeastern Syria and established a self-administration there.
In a statement posted on Telegram on Friday, the Interior Ministry said a security delegation toured the Internal Security Directorate in Ain al-Arab alongside the local internal security chief, visiting the main building and several affiliated police departments.
The delegation reviewed administrative and field operations and assessed technical and staffing readiness to ensure services continue “efficiently and regularly,” state news agency SANA reported.
SANA said an expanded meeting with department heads from the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) discussed unifying organizational and administrative structures with systems adopted by the Interior Ministry and reviewed a plan to complete the integration process in a way that strengthens institutional unity.
On Jan. 30, the Syrian government announced a ceasefire agreement with the SDF as part of a broader deal that includes a phased integration of military and administrative bodies and the handover of all civil and government institutions, crossings and border posts to the state.
In southern Syria, US envoy for Syria Tom Barrack welcomed an exchange that saw 25 government fighters and 61 Druze fighters released in Sweidah.
Writing on X on Friday, Barrack said the exchange was carried out smoothly and orderly, thanks to the International Committee of the Red Cross's valuable assistance.
He described the swap as a step toward stability and a step away from revenge, adding that the US was honored to help facilitate these efforts.
According to SANA, the exchange involved detainees and prisoners held after events in July last year in Sweidah province. It included 86 people — 61 detainees from the province and 25 prisoners held by outlaw groups in Sweidah — in what the agency described as a humanitarian and security operation aimed at reuniting families.
The Sweidah Media Directorate said on Thursday that the exchange of detainees linked to the July events involved Syrian government forces and Arab tribes on one side, and armed Druze factions on the other.
Government security forces share control of Sweidah province with Druze factions, particularly those loyal to Sheikh al-Aql Hikmat al-Hijri.
