DID Press: At least nine people were killed on Tuesday in Aleppo after clashes broke out between forces of Syria’s current government and U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters in northern Syria, according to local sources. Most of the victims were civilians, in what has been described as one of the heaviest confrontations between the two sides in recent months.
The violence comes amid a breakdown in the March agreement intended to integrate the Kurdish semi-autonomous administration and its forces into Syria’s new Islamist-led government structure. The political impasse has repeatedly spilled into field tensions, especially in Aleppo, a city that includes two predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods.
Both sides blamed each other for triggering Tuesday’s fighting, which continued late into the night and has raised fresh concerns about the future of the integration deal. The confrontation is among the deadliest since the fall of Bashar al-Assad more than a year ago.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), led largely by Kurdish units, said pro-government groups targeted Sheikh Maqsoud district early Tuesday. By evening, the SDF reported the death toll in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh had risen to four civilians, including two women and a child.
The SDF accused government forces of using artillery, rockets, armed drones, sniper fire, and heavy weapons. Despite an April agreement for Kurdish units to withdraw from the area, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh remain under SDF-linked control.
Amid escalating hostilities, Syria’s civil aviation authorities suspended flights at Aleppo International Airport for 24 hours, diverting operations to Damascus.
Similar clashes last month in Aleppo left five people dead. At the time, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan urged the SDF not to obstruct efforts to stabilize Syria.