ALEPPO – Authorities in Syria have urged civilians to vacate a disputed part of Aleppo in the north, as they established a corridor for evacuation amidst ongoing clashes between government forces and Kurdish troops for the second consecutive day.
Residents were notified by Aleppo’s provincial authorities to exit the area by 1 p.m. local time in alignment with the army’s directives. According to the state-run SANA news agency, the military announced plans to initiate “targeted operations” against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh, and Bani Zaid shortly after the deadline.
An Associated Press journalist observed intermittent shelling as civilians hurriedly left the conflict zone Thursday morning. By Wednesday, Aleppo’s Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor reported that the turmoil had displaced over 46,000 individuals across the province.
The Kurdish-majority areas have seen at least eight civilian casualties, according to the SDF, while government sources reported the deaths of five civilians and one soldier in nearby government-ruled regions since the fighting erupted on Tuesday. Many more have been injured on both sides of the conflict.
Each faction has accused the other of intentionally targeting civilian zones and damaging infrastructure.
The current hostilities are unfolding against a backdrop of stalled political talks between the Syrian central government and the SDF.
The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen. In April, scores of SDF fighters left Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh as part of the deal.
Officials from the central government and SDF met again on Sunday in Damascus, but government officials said that no tangible progress had been made.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The SDF has for years been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.
Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the U.S. has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
The U.S. has not issued a statement on the Aleppo clashes, seeming to suggest that Washington wants to keep a distance.
Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that the “operation is being carried out entirely by the Syrian Army” while Turkey is “closely monitoring.”
“Syria’s security is our security,” the statement said, adding that “Turkey will provide the necessary support should Syria request it.”
The United Nations has expressed concern at the violence.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres “is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries following hostilities in Aleppo.”
“We call on all actors to immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint, and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians” and to “promptly resume negotiations in order to fully implement the 10 March agreement,” he said.
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