Kurdish militants on Friday rejected the Syrian government’s call to leave the city of Aleppo. TASR writes about it according to AFP.
- Kurdish militants have refused to leave Aleppo neighborhoods during the fighting.
- The Syrian government declared a ceasefire and called on them to leave.
- The fighting left 21 dead and tens of thousands of refugees.
Fighting has been going on in the city for several days between Kurdish militants linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and members of the Syrian security forces. The government in Damascus announced a ceasefire on Friday in an attempt to prevent further escalation. It also said that Kurdish fighters are surrounded in two districts of the city and called on them to leave for the territory east of the Euphrates River, which is under the control of the SDF.
The violence took its toll
Fighting in Syria’s second largest city has been ongoing since Tuesday. At least 21 people were killed and, according to the UN, around 30,000 people had to leave their homes. Kurdish and government forces dispute each other over who started the violence.
The cease-fire in three neighborhoods of Aleppo under the control of Kurdish militants began at 03:00 local time (01:00 CET) and the militants had until 09:00 (07:00 CET) to leave.
Kurdish troops will not leave
Local councils in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maksud and Ashrafiya said in the morning that the Kurdish fighters would not leave. “We have decided to stay in our neighborhoods and defend them,” they said in a statement, rejecting any “surrender.”
Since the overthrow of former leader Bashar al-Assad, Aleppo has been under the control of a new Islamist-led Syrian government. However, Sheikh Maksud and Ashrafiyya remain controlled by Kurdish forces linked to the SDF, despite their promise last year to withdraw from there.
Negotiations on the agreement collapsed
SDF leader Mazloum Abdi said attacks on Kurdish areas in Aleppo “undermine the chances of reaching an understanding”. He made this statement only a few days after visiting Damascus, where he negotiated with the government an agreement on the incorporation of the Kurdish semi-autonomous administration and army into the structures of Syria’s new leadership.
The March 2025 agreement was not implemented due to ongoing disputes, and the deadline for its implementation expired at the end of 2025. However, despite the situation in Aleppo, the SDF leadership declared that it was committed to the agreements reached with Damascus.
Demonstrations for peace
Hundreds of people decided to express their disapproval of the violence in Aleppo in the streets of the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria, which is the capital of the Syrian autonomous region of Rojava under the control of the SDF. Demonstrators called on the international community to intervene in Aleppo. Some held banners with the slogans “No to war” and “No to ethnic cleansing”.
