SYRIA’S interim government signed a deal on Monday with the Kurdish-led authority that controls the country’s north-east.

The move includes a ceasefire and the merging of the main United States-backed force there into the Syrian army.

The deal is a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government, which is led by the jihadist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the ousting of President Bashar al-Assad in December.