Civilians flee the area seeking safety as they experienced widespread panic due to intensified gunfire following the clashes broke out between Syrian security forces and the PKK/YPG, which operating under the name SDF, at Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria on Oct. 7, 2025. (AA Photo)
January 06, 2026 07:24 PM GMT+03:00
At least seven people died in violent clashes in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Tuesday as tensions between government personnel and the SDF terror organization escalated into deadly confrontations that left mostly civilians dead.
The fighting marks the latest breakdown in a fragile March agreement meant to merge the SDF into Syria’s new government. Implementation of the deal has stalled for months, with Aleppo emerging as a flashpoint where tensions repeatedly boil over into violence, particularly in the Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods.
Syria’s defense ministry told the state news agency SANA that the SDF targeted “a number of neighbourhoods in Aleppo city adjacent to the districts it controls.” The ministry reported three civilian deaths and more than 12 wounded, plus one death in an attack on an army position.
“The SDF is again proving that it does not recognize the March 10 agreement and is trying to undermine it,” the defense ministry statement added.
Members of the SDF attend a joint military exercise with forces of the US-led Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve coalition al-Hasakah, Syria, Sept. 7, 2022. (AFP Photo)
Territorial control complicates peace efforts
The Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, which have majority populations from Syria’s minority ethnic communities, have remained under SDF control despite the organization agreeing to withdraw from the areas in April. The continued presence has become a persistent source of friction as Damascus seeks to reassert control over territories throughout the country.
Aleppo’s agriculture ministry reported that two workers at a research center were among Tuesday’s dead, while provincial authorities said an SDF shell struck the main gate of a hospital in the Bustan al-Basha district.
Negotiations yield no breakthrough as deadline approaches
The original March agreement set an end-of-2025 deadline for implementation, but substantive progress has remained elusive. On Sunday, SDF terror group’s ringleader Mazloum Abdi held further talks with officials in Damascus on integration, but state media reported no tangible results were achieved.
Last month, similar clashes in Aleppo killed five people, violence that followed a visit to Damascus by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. During that visit, Fidan urged the SDF not to become an obstacle to Syria’s stability.
Türkiye, a close ally of Syria’s new authorities, views the SDF as a terrorist organization and has long opposed its presence along the Turkish-Syrian border.
January 06, 2026 07:24 PM GMT+03:00