Damascus, Jan 9, (dpa/GNA) – The Syrian Defence Ministry, called on residents of one of the embattled Kurdish neighbourhoods of the city of Aleppo to leave the area on Friday.
At the same time, the ministry called on fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to lay down their arms.
According to an army statement, a humanitarian corridor will be established from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood between 4 pm and 6 pm (1900-2100 GMT). The population has been urged to quickly move to safer parts of the city.
The army appealed to the SDF fighters to surrender their weapons, assuring them that their safety will be guaranteed.
After days of violence, the Defence Ministry announced a temporary ceasefire overnight for the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyeh and Bani Zaid, which expired at 9 am. During this time, fighters from the Kurdish forces were ordered to leave the contested areas.
After several days of deadly fighting in the city of 2 million in the north of the country, cautious calm prevailed on Friday morning.
The fighting is linked to stalled negotiations over the integration of Kurdish-run institutions and SDF fighters into the Syrian state following an agreement reached in March.
According to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, at least 43 people, including 23 civilians, have been killed since the violence erupted on Tuesday.
During the ceasefire, withdrawing fighters were only permitted to carry light weapons. The Syrian army promised a safe withdrawal to the previously Kurdish-controlled areas in the north-east of the country.
Buses were reportedly made available for their departure.
But according to the Aleppo city media office, none of the SDF fighters had left the affected neighbourhoods by the end of the deadline.
Kurdish sources, however, told dpa that the SDF forces were leaving the embattled areas.
They accused the Syrian interim government of using the same tactics as the ousted regime led by long-time dictator Bashar al-Assad, including “siege, shelling and displacement.”
During the Syrian civil war, the al-Assad government often besieged cities and neighbourhoods for months, shelling opposition forces and cutting off supply lines.
Following negotiations, “reconciliation agreements” were signed, under which fighters and civilians had to leave embattled areas in government-organized buses, usually heading towards other rebel-held areas in the north of the country.
US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack said Washington “warmly welcomes the temporary ceasefire achieved last night in Aleppo’s Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods,” thanking all parties involved for their “goodwill.”
“We are working intensively to extend this ceasefire and spirit of understanding beyond this morning’s 9 o’clock deadline,” he wrote on X on Friday.
“This truce begins the vital work of guiding Syria’s diverse lanes — its communities and neighboring nations – onto a single shared highway toward security, inclusion, and lasting peace. Speed bumps will arise, but our common destination clearly favors cooperation over confrontation.”
GNA