Buses stand by close to the Lairamoun roundabout as they wait to enter the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood to evacuate members of the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters from two districts of the city of Aleppo, northern Syria, on January 9, 2026. Kurdish fighters encircled by the Syrian army are to be sent to the Kurdish region of northeastern Syria, the Syrian authorities said January 9, 2026. Syria's defence ministry earlier announced a ceasefire in the city after several days of clashes and granted the Kurdish fighters a deadline to leave two districts they control.