Syrian Army Advances into Kurdish District of Aleppo Amid Tensions

Current Situation in Aleppo

By Mahmoud Hasano, Orhan Qereman and Khalil Ashawi

Ceasefire Attempts and Failures

ALEPPO, Syria, Jan 9 (Reuters) - The Syrian army said it would push into the last Kurdish-held district of Aleppo city on Friday after Kurdish groups there rejected a government demand for their fighters to withdraw under a ceasefire deal.

International Reactions and Mediation Efforts

The violence in Aleppo has brought into focus one of the main faultlines in Syria as the country tries to rebuild after a devastating war, with Kurdish forces resisting efforts by President Ahmed al-Sharaa's Islamist-led government to bring their fighters under centralised authority. 

Impact on Civilians and Humanitarian Concerns

At least nine civilians have been killed and more than 140,000 have fled their homes in Aleppo, where Kurdish forces are trying to cling on to several neighbourhoods they have run since the early days of the war, which began in 2011. 

ِA ceasefire was announced by the defence ministry overnight, demanding the withdrawal of Kurdish forces to the Kurdish-held northeast. That would effectively end Kurdish control over the pockets of Aleppo that Kurdish forces have held.

CEASEFIRE 'FAILED,' SECURITY OFFICIALS SAY

But in a statement, Kurdish councils that run Aleppo's Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah districts said calls to leave were "a call to surrender" and that Kurdish forces would instead "defend their neighbourhoods", accusing government forces of intensive shelling.

Hours later, the Syrian army said that the deadline for Kurdish fighters to withdraw had expired, and that it would begin a military operation to clear the last Kurdish-held neighbourhood of Sheikh Maksoud.

Two Syrian security officials told Reuters the ceasefire efforts had failed and that the army would seize the neighbourhood by force. 

The Syrian defence ministry had earlier carried out strikes on parts of Sheikh Maksoud that it said were being used by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to launch attacks on the "people of Aleppo". It said on Friday that SDF strikes had killed three army soldiers.

Kurdish security forces in Aleppo said some of the strikes hit a hospital, calling it a war crime.

The defence ministry disputed that, saying the structure was a large arms depot and that it had been destroyed in the resumption of strikes on Friday. 

It posted an aerial video that it said showed the location after the strikes, and said secondary explosions were visible, proving it was a weapons cache.

Reuters could not immediately verify the claim.

The SDF is a powerful Kurdish-led security force that controls northeastern Syria. It says it withdrew its fighters from Aleppo last year, leaving Kurdish neighbourhoods in the hands of the Kurdish Asayish police.

  Under an agreement with Damascus last March the SDF was due to integrate with the defence ministry by the end of 2025, but there has been little progress.

FRANCE, U.S. SEEK DE-ESCALATION

France's foreign ministry said it was working with the United States to de-escalate. 

A ministry statement said President Emmanuel Macron had urged Sharaa on Thursday "to exercise restraint and reiterated France's commitment to a united Syria where all segments of Syrian society are represented and protected."

A Western diplomat told Reuters that mediation efforts were focused on calming the situation and producing a deal that would see Kurdish forces leave Aleppo and provide security guarantees for Kurds who remained. 

The diplomat said U.S. envoy Tom Barrack was en route to Damascus. A spokesperson for Barrack declined to comment.

Washington has been closely involved in efforts to promote integration between the SDF - which has long enjoyed U.S. military support - and Damascus, with which the United States has developed close ties under President Donald Trump.        

The ceasefire declared by the government overnight said Kurdish forces should withdraw by 9 a.m. (0600 GMT) on Friday, but no one withdrew overnight, Syrian security sources said.

Barrack had welcomed what he called a "temporary ceasefire" and said Washington was working intensively to extend it beyond the 9 a.m. deadline. "We are hopeful this weekend will bring a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue," he wrote on X.

TURKISH WARNING

Turkey views the SDF as a terrorist organisation linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party and has warned of military action if it does not honour the integration agreement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking on Thursday, expressed hope that the situation in Aleppo would be normalised "through the withdrawal of SDF elements". 

Though Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who belongs to the Sunni Muslim majority, has repeatedly vowed to protect minorities, bouts of violence in which government-aligned fighters have killed hundreds of Alawites and Druze have spread alarm in minority communities over the last year.

The Kurdish councils in Aleppo said Damascus could not be trusted "with our security and our neighbourhoods", and that attacks on the areas aimed to bring about displacement.

Sharaa, in a phone call with Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani on Friday, affirmed that the Kurds were "a fundamental part of the Syrian national fabric", the Syrian presidency said.

Neither the government nor the Kurdish forces have announced a toll of casualties among their fighters from the recent clashes.    

(Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus, Maya Gebeily in Beirut, John Irish in Paris, Huseyin Hayatsever in Ankara, Jana Choukeir in Dubai; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Aidan Lewis and Alistair Bell)