Monitoring groups said hundreds of civilians were killed in revenge attacks, primarily targeting members of the Alawite religious minority to which Assad belongs.

By Timour Azhari, Phil Stewart, Jonathan Spicer and Suleiman Al-Khalidi DAMASCUS (Reuters) - The United States encouraged its Syrian Kurdish allies to reach Monday's landmark deal with the Islamist-led government in Damascus,

Syrians from around the country celebrated an agreement signed by interim President Ahmed Al-Sharaa with the Syrian Democratic Forces to join new state institutions. The accord comes at a critical moment as Sharaa grapples with the fallout from deadly clashes between Syrian forces and militants loyal to ousted President Bashar al-Assad.

The new Syrian government has signed a deal with to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia into the regime, in what is a big step towards uniting the fractured country. The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham-led (HTS) government has been struggling for legitimacy since it ousted Bashar al-Assad late last year,