Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed a ceasefire in Aleppo, state media reported Tuesday, after tensions between the two sides escalated into bombardments on the northern city.
At least one member of Syria’s domestic security forces and a civilian were killed Monday in bombardments on Aleppo attributed to Kurdish forces, Syrian state television reported.
Tensions have heightened between Damascus and the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration in north and northeast Syria.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, separately said Syrian government forces used explosive drones in two Aleppo neighbourhoods with Kurdish majority residents, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh.
It said communications in those districts had been cut and they were surrounded by Syrian army reinforcements.
Since the toppling of former leader Bashar al-Assad in December, Aleppo has been ruled by Syria’s new Islamist authorities.
Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh however remain controlled by Kurdish units linked to the SDF, the de facto army of the Kurdish administration.
According to the Syrian News Channel, citing a security official, “a member of the domestic security forces was killed and three others wounded in an SDF attack near the Sheikh Maqsoud district in Aleppo.”
It also reported that a civilian was killed in a Kurdish bombardment.
It said “dozens of families” had fled Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh because of heavy machine-gun and mortar barrages by the SDF in that area.
Aleppo’s governor, Azzam al-Gharib, called on residents to stay indoors and as far away as possible from “the zones with clashes”.
State news agency SANA said several wounded civilians had been taken to hospital.
It later reported that the two sides had reached a ceasefire agreement in both neighbourhoods, without providing further detail.
The SDF denied attacking government security forces and accused pro-Damascus factions of mounting a siege of Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo, and trying to push forward “with tanks”.
It said that residents had taken up weapons to help the Asayish, the Kurds’ domestic security forces, to defend the districts.
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© Agence France-Presse
