2.7.2. Territorial control and main armed actors

Territorial control in Hasaka governorate changed during the reporting period. In November 2025, ISW and CTP mapped the governorate as being mainly controlled by the SDF, with territory in the north-west under control of the SNA.809 By mid-February 2026, however, the Syrian Transitional Government had taken over control of a vast area of the governorate, with the SDF merely retaining control in parts of the north and the north-eastern corner of Hasaka,810around the cities of Qamishli and Hasaka.811 In April 2026, the Syrian Transitional Government assumed control of all military sites in the governorate where US forces had been stationed.812 ISW identified the 86^th Division of the Syrian army as present in Hasaka governorate.813

As part of a broader military confrontation aimed at extending control over north-eastern Syria, the Syrian army advanced towards Hasaka governorate on 17 January 2026.814 On 18 January, the Syrian government and the SDF signed a ceasefire and ‘full integration’ agreement. The agreement provided, among other measures, for all civilian institutions in Hasaka governorate to be incorporated into Syrian state institutions.815 On 30 January, the two parties announced a further agreement bringing hostilities to a halt. Under its terms, MoI security units were deployed to Hasaka and Qamishli, while local Asayish forces were started to be integrated into state structures.816 The agreement also envisaged the establishment of a new military division of the Syrian army, incorporating former SDF brigades, to operate across the north-east.817 In addition, the 30 January agreement stipulated that government forces would refrain from entering Kurdish-majority areas. Instead, limited contingents of security forces reporting to the MoI would take control of state institutions in the cities Hasaka and Qamishli, including civil registry offices, passport departments and the airport.818 Government forces entered Hasaka city on 2 February 2026819 and Qamishli on 3 February 2026.820 In February, the transitional government began incorporating various institutions of the former Autonomous Administration and appointed Noureddin Ahmad Issa, a former Asayish official, as governor of Hasaka.821 By the end of April, the integration process was still ongoing. During this period, the transitional government had assumed control of the Semalka border crossing with Iraq,822 while the SDF removed checkpoints within the governorate and handed over prisons to the transitional government.823 Discussions between the two sides continued with a view to resolving outstanding issues.824 Beginning of May the assistant to the Syrian defense minister for eastern region affairs, Samir Oso, announced that four SDF brigades have been integrated into the Syrian Defense Ministry, but that the integration process remained in its early stages.825

As for the role of the Syrian National Army (SNA), although the SNA was formally dissolved at the January 2025 ‘Victory Conference’, former SNA factions were reportedly still significant actors in northern Syria’s security environment.826