ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The scheduled visit of Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), to Damascus on Monday has been postponed due to “technical reasons,” with a new date to be announced soon. 

“The visit of the Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, Mazloum Abdi, accompanied by the negotiating delegation, to Damascus was scheduled to take place today 29th of this month. However, the visit has been postponed due to technical reasons,” SDF said in a statement on Monday. 

The Kurdish-led force added that a new date will be set soon, “through mutual agreement among the concerned parties.” 

The SDF chief said on Thursday that talks with Damascus have made “notable progress,” with a "shared understanding" having been reached with the Syrian government to integrate the Kurdish-led force into the Syrian security apparatus.

A senior official source in Syria's foreign ministry contradicted Abdi’s comments, bemoaning the lack of "tangible results" regarding the integration of the SDF into the Syrian state, and adding that no concrete steps or timelines have been set so far, Syrian state media reported on Friday.

The SDF further clarified on Monday that the postponement is related to “logistical and technical arrangements for the visit and does not reflect any change in the course of communication or the objectives under discussion.” 

On March 10, Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa signed an agreement that would bring the SDF and other institutions in northeast Syria (Rojava) under the auspices of the Syrian government.

Sporadic violent clashes between the two sides have stalled the implementation of the accord.

Clashes erupted in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods on Decemeber 22, with Damascus and Kurdish forces trading blame for the altercation. The fighting left at least two killed and injured 20 others, according to the SDF, while Syrian state media said that at least four were killed.

Damascus and the SDF have repeatedly traded blame over failures to implement the integration agreement.

The US-backed SDF has been the global coalition’s main ally on the ground in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) for years. Despite the SDF's close counterterrorism ties with the US military, Washington has strongly pushed for the implementation of the March 10 agreement as its relations with the new Syrian administration have warmed.

Kurds and other minorities in Syria have called for decentralized governance, a request Damascus has firmly rejected.

The SDF is considered the Rojava administration's de facto army and controls large swathes of territory in Syria's northeast region.