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Clashes raged between the forces of Syria’s Islamist-led Interim Government and fighters affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo on January 9, with reports indicating that the death toll from the battle in the northern Syrian city has risen 50.
Escalation began at the start of the week following a round of talks in Damascus which failed to produce any progress towards the implementation of the Mach integration agreement.
Government forces began a fully-fledged military operation to capture the two neighborhoods from Kurdish fighters a day earlier. The forces managed to storm Ashrafieh, and state media reported that the neighborhood was brought under control. However, the other side said that only a part of the neighborhood was lost.
The early morning saw a temporary ceasefire declared between 3 a.m. and 9 a.m. with the government, which also sent buses to the entrance of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh claiming that an agreement was reached with the SDF to withdraw Kurdish fighters from there.
However, the stunt failed, with the general council of the two neighborhoods later issuing a statement rejecting calls to surrender.
“The appeals directed by the Damascus government forces to our people and our security forces are calls for surrender. However, our people in these neighborhoods are determined to stay and defend them,” the statement said.
In a follow up statement, the general council reiterated its stance, saying there would be no retreat from protecting the neighborhoods.
“We cannot take a single step back regarding the protection of our neighborhoods. We have made our decision to remain in our neighborhoods and defend them,” it added.
After failing to force Kurdish fighters to withdraw, government forces announced that they will open a “humanitarian corridor” in the neighborhoods to allow people to evacuate. The fighting has already displaced around 16,0000 people, according to state media and officials.
“The Operations Command of the Syrian Arab Army told SANA that a humanitarian corridor will be opened from 4 p.m. until 6 p.m. They urged residents of the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood to quickly leave and move to other neighborhoods of Aleppo via the al-Awarid corridor, and called on SDF fighters to lay down their weapons, stating that they will be secured,” reported the state-run SANA news agency .
Amid the ceasefire it was reported that the government closed all routes leading to territories controlled by the SDF in northern and eastern Syria, including crossing on the Euphrates River. There were also reports of renewed diplomatic efforts to de-esclate, with United States Envoy Tom Barrack traveling to Syria and President Ahmad al-Sharaa phoning Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barazani.
The ceasefire, however, ended with no agreement, and clashes quickly resumed with government forces issuing warnings then shelling several parts of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh.
Among the targets hit was Khaled Fajr Hospital in the heart of Sheikh Maqsoud. Multiple blasts and a large fire were reported there.
In a report on the situation, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 50 people have been killed since the beginning of the escalation in Aleppo city, including 21 civilians in the Kurdish neighborhoods and 24 members of government forces.
Despite reports of renewed talks between the government and the SDF in Damascus, a permanent ceasefire is highly unlikely.
The government will not back down, especially considering that Turkey has repeatedly stressed its support for its operation. From its side, the SDF can’t withdraw easily, as such a defeat would encourage the government to start another battle on another front later.
Any more escalation could cause the clashes to spread to other fronts, like the town of Deir Hafer in the eastern Aleppo countryside, where both sides have been exchanging fire for the last few days.
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those ypg-pkk-sdf terrorists must be removed and chechens must take their places.
put a sock in it stirrer
why not? kurds should move to israel or ussa
kurds are too ugly to move to israel, they’re just useful idiotic lemurs.
the greater israel divide and conquer strategy brings many needless casualties hidden by the fog. transparent public view of how all these events and conflicts are created, would be a blessing
well they won’t get any clirification from you.
they did theirs role, now it is time for them to be gone.
order out of chaos to unite the whole globe under one moral authority for rule of law obviously one could hypothesis
the problem with that is the other superpowers will not allow themselves to be raped by western satanists. they are poking weaker players now
you’re thinking that they aren’t all in the same class. you’re beleiving everything is as it seems to be.
this is reality”josh hawley epic rant on leftist judges and justice not being served to anti american enemies ” you tube. he’s educated very well yale and rockhurst high school, jesuit boys’ school, graduating 1998 as valedictorian, in that league he
would be aware of washington saying” the greatest threat to americas democracy will come from pope’s and prince’s ” as a barrister he may have been so busy he simply forgot.
the israeli flag has never brought peace, prosperity or liberty to any land that flies or supports it. not in my, my father and his fathers lifetimes. give that a long think. syria is not exempt
war and peace tolstoy.
no flag ever bought peace wars too profitable to be bought out
anyway look at the you tube site picture for this “hidden russia the new year edition christmas tula ” the moscovite you tube the talkest xmas tree in europe .
look at the star its the classic satanist sign of two legs and a head position.
xmas is not about dead pine trees covered in shiny baubles. it never was until after ww1 its not xmas tradition. it’s an apostasy.
xmas was always about the birth of a baby boy. not a tree.