US Backs Plan to Merge Foreign Fighters into Syria’s Post-Assad Army: Envoy

US special envoy also reiterates call for incorporating Kurdish-led fighting force into reconstituted Syrian military.

Members of the Kurdish Asayish security forces in Hasakeh Province, Syria, on April 18, 2025. Delil Souleiman/AFP via Getty Images

Washington has voiced support for a plan by Damascus to incorporate thousands of foreign Islamist fighters, many of whom fought the former regime, into the ranks of Syria’s reconstituted military apparatus.

When asked on June 2 whether Washington supported the plan, Thomas Barrack, U.S. ambassador to Turkey and special envoy for Syria, responded in the affirmative but said the plan should be carried out “with transparency.”