The Syrian army said on Saturday that it had completed its military operations in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, ending days of intense clashes with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“We announce a cessation of all military operations within the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood, effective from 3pm,” it said. “The army will begin handing over all health and government facilities to state institutions and will gradually withdraw from the streets of the district.”
The SDF described the statement as including “false claims” and said the army was still attacking its positions.
Several drone attacks struck Aleppo throughout the day, outside the main combat zones, including one that targeted the Aleppo governorate building where its governor, Azzam al Gharib, and Syria's Minister of Social Affairs, Hind Kabawat, were holding a press conference.
Damascus said the drones were launched by the SDF, adding that no injuries were reported. The SDF denied targeting civilian infrastructure in Aleppo.
The Sana news agency reported other drone attacks in Aleppo, saying the SDF is targeting Aleppo with "suicide drones".
Sheikh Maqsoud was the last SDF stronghold in the area, after the army took control of the Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid neighbourhoods earlier this week, where the US-backed SDF had long held positions.
The deadly clashes have remained until now largely confined to these neighbourhoods, isolated from Syria’s larger Kurdish regions, despite fears of escalation.
However, they are likely to have widened the standoff between Damascus and the Kurdish-led SDF, which also controls swathes of territory in the north-east, further complicating its integration into the central government.
Continuous clashes
The army said on Saturday it took over the last SDF positions and “evacuated” Kurdish fighters hiding in the Yassin Hospital and transferred them to the north-east of the country.
Earlier in the morning and early afternoon, Aleppo was rocked and there were reports that a handful of SDF fighters remained.
The National witnessed Syrian forces fire at drones on Saturday afternoon and a lorry carry the body of a Syrian army soldier from Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood.
The clashes have forced tens of thousands of people to flee the area. Dozens of civilians gathered at the entrance of Sheikh Maqsoud, waiting to return to their homes after days of displacement.
In the afternoon, the Syrian army was still barring access to civilians who tried to return, citing security concerns.
Hoda Nasri, 58, waiting at the entrance of her neighbourhood, which now bears the marks of heavy fighting with shell casings the ground and buildings pockmarked by bullets, said through tears that she had barely eaten for days. “We just want to go back home,” she said.
On Saturday, US special envoy for Syria Tom Barrack reaffirmed American support for a ceasefire and the “peaceful withdrawal of the SDF from Aleppo” during discussions with Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Later he met Syria's President Ahmad Al Shara and Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shaibani and described the fighting as "deeply concerning" and putting at risk Kurdish integration.
"We urge all parties to exercise maximum restraint, immediately cease hostilities, and return to dialogue," he, adding that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's team is ready to facilitate engagement between the two sides.
On Friday, a first ceasefire was announced by Syria's Ministry of Defence. But Kurdish fighters refused to surrender on the terms put forward by Damascus, which gave them a few hours to leave the area and be escorted to north-east Syria. This led to another round of fighting in Sheikh Maqsoud late into the night, in which at least six civilians were killed and 70 more were wounded.
The integration of the well-supplied SDF into Syria’s central government has stalled, despite an agreement signed in March with Damascus, posing a threat to Syria’s unification after 14 years of civil war.
“The Aleppo escalation carries broader risks for Damascus regardless of how the current standoff resolves,” said Nanar Hawach, an analyst at International Crisis Group. “A prolonged cycle of such confrontations could trigger broader localised violence along contact points in the east, like Deir Hafer, Tishreen Dam and Deir Ezzor, where Damascus-SDF tensions simmer.”
“The reputational risks are also significant. If the fighting escalates, international actors will wonder about Damascus’s capacity to govern Syria’s heterogeneous society,” she added.
