Syrian government security personnel on Monday entered Hasakeh city, a stronghold of Kurdish forces, under an integration deal agreed with the Kurds last week, an AFP team reported.

The two sides reached a comprehensive agreement on Friday to gradually integrate the Kurds' military and civilian institutions into the state, after Kurdish forces ceded territory to advancing government troops in recent weeks following months of tensions and sporadic clashes.

The government's push to extend its authority across the entire country comes as a blow to the Kurds, who had sought to preserve their de facto autonomy in parts of the north and northeast that they seized while battling the Islamic State group during Syria's civil war.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose country is a key backer of the Syrian government and has long been hostile to Kurdish forces in Syria, warned on Monday that anyone who attempted to "sabotage" the deal between Damascus and the Kurds would be "crushed".

AFP correspondents saw a convoy of government vehicles cross a Kurdish........

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