The Japan Times - Kurdish fighters refuse to leave Syria's Aleppo after truce

Since Tuesday, government forces had been fighting the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo, the country's second city.

The violence killed 21 people and was the latest challenge for a country still struggling to forge a new path after Islamist authorities ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad just over a year ago.

It also forced around 30,000 families to flee their homes, according to the UN.

Both sides traded blame over who started the fighting, which came as they struggled to implement a deal to merge the Kurds' administration and military into the country's new government.

On Friday, the defence ministry announced a ceasefire in the fighting with the SDF, which controls swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast, and was key to the defeat of the Islamic State group in 2019.

"To prevent any slide towards a new military escalation within residential neighbourhoods, the Ministry of Defence announces ... a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsud, Ashrafiyeh and Bani Zeid neighbourhoods of Aleppo, effective from 3:00 am," the ministry wrote in a statement.

Kurdish fighters were given until 9:00 am Friday (0600 GMT) to leave the three neighbourhoods, while the Aleppo governorate said the fighters would be sent, along with their light weapons, to Kurdish areas further east.

Hours later, the local councils of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh said the Kurdish fighters would not leave.

"We have decided to remain in our districts and defend them," the statement said, rejecting any "surrender".

An AFP photographer located on the edge of Ashrafiyeh saw members of the security forces enter the area, as well as vehicles that appeared to be preparing to evacuate Kurdish fighters.

The United States welcomed the ceasefire in a post on X by its envoy Tom Barrack.

He said Washington hoped for "a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue" and was "working intensively to extend this ceasefire and spirit of understanding".

- 'Children were terrified' -

An AFP correspondent reported fierce fighting across Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsud districts into Thursday night. On Friday morning, the truce appeared to be holding.

Syria's military had instructed civilians in those neighbourhoods to leave through humanitarian corridors ahead of launching the operation.

State television reported that around 16,000 people had fled on Thursday alone.

"We've gone through very difficult times... my children were terrified," said Rana Issa, 43, whose family left Ashrafiyeh on Thursday.

"Many people want to leave", but are afraid of the snipers, she told AFP.

Mazloum Abdi, who leads the SDF, said attacks on Kurdish areas "undermine the chances of reaching understandings", days after he visited Damascus for talks on the March integration deal.

The agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, have stymied progress.

Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the control of Kurdish units linked to the SDF, despite Kurdish fighters agreeing to withdraw from the areas in April.

Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria, has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.

Aron Lund, a fellow at the Century International research centre, told AFP that "Aleppo is the SDF's most vulnerable area".

"Both sides are still trying to put pressure on each other and rally international support," he said.

He warned that if the hostilities spiral, "a full Damascus-SDF conflict across northern Syria, potentially with Turkish and Israeli involvement, could be devastating for Syria's stability".

Israel and Turkey have been vying for influence in Syria since Assad was toppled in December 2024.

In Qamishli in the Kurdish-held northeast, hundreds of people have protested the Aleppo violence.

"We call on the international community to intervene," said protester Salaheddin Sheikhmous, 61, while others held banners reading "no to war" and "no to ethnic cleansing".

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T.Maeda--JT