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Kurdish fighters rejected a telephone to permission Syria’s Aleppo connected Friday (January 9, 2026) aft the government announced a truce successful deadly warring that forced thousands of civilians to flee.
Since Tuesday (January 6, 2026), authorities forces had been warring the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) successful Aleppo, the country’s 2nd city.
The unit killed 21 radical and was the latest situation for a state inactive struggling to forge a caller way aft Islamist authorities ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad conscionable implicit a twelvemonth ago.
It besides forced astir 30,000 families to fly their homes, according to the U.N..
Both sides traded blasted implicit who started the fighting, which came arsenic they struggled to instrumentality a woody to merge the Kurds’ medication and subject into the country’s caller government.
On Friday (January 9, 2026), the Defence Ministry announced a ceasefire successful the warring with the SDF, which controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich northbound and northeast, and was cardinal to the decision of the Islamic State radical successful 2019.
“To forestall immoderate descent towards a caller subject escalation wrong residential neighbourhoods, the Ministry of Defence announces ... a ceasefire successful the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsud, Ashrafiyeh and Bani Zeid neighbourhoods of Aleppo, effectual from 3:00 a.m.,” the Ministry wrote successful a statement.
Kurdish fighters were fixed until 9:00 a.m. Friday (January 9, 2026) to permission the 3 neighbourhoods, portion the Aleppo governorate said the fighters would beryllium sent, on with their airy weapons, to Kurdish areas further east.
Hours later, the section councils of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh said the Kurdish fighters would not leave.
“We person decided to stay successful our districts and support them,” the connection said, rejecting immoderate “surrender”.
An AFP lensman located connected the borderline of Ashrafiyeh saw members of the information forces participate the area, arsenic good arsenic vehicles that appeared to beryllium preparing to evacuate Kurdish fighters.
The United States welcomed the ceasefire successful a station connected X by its envoy Tom Barrack.
He said Washington hoped for “a much enduring calm and deeper dialogue” and was “working intensively to widen this ceasefire and tone of understanding”.
‘Children were terrified’
An AFP analogous reported fierce warring crossed Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsud districts into Thursday (January 8, 2026) night. On Friday (January 9, 2026) morning, the truce appeared to beryllium holding.
Syria’s subject had instructed civilians successful those neighbourhoods to permission done humanitarian corridors up of launching the operation.
State tv reported that astir 16,000 radical had fled connected Thursday (January 8, 2026) alone.
“We’ve gone done precise hard times... my children were terrified,” said Rana Issa, 43, whose household near Ashrafiyeh connected Thursday (January 8, 2026).
“Many radical privation to leave”, but are acrophobic of the snipers, she told AFP.
Mazloum Abdi, who leads the SDF, said attacks connected Kurdish areas “undermine the chances of reaching understandings”, days aft helium visited Damascus for talks connected the March integration deal.
The statement was meant to beryllium implemented past year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralised rule, person stymied progress.
Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh person remained nether the power of Kurdish units linked to the SDF, contempt Kurdish fighters agreeing to retreat from the areas successful April.
Turkiye, which shares a 900-kilometre borderline with Syria, has launched successive offensives to propulsion Kurdish forces from the frontier.
Aron Lund, a chap astatine the Century International probe centre, told AFP that “Aleppo is the SDF’s astir susceptible area”.
“Both sides are inactive trying to enactment unit connected each different and rally planetary support,” helium said.
He warned that if the hostilities spiral, “a afloat Damascus-SDF struggle crossed bluish Syria, perchance with Turkish and Israeli involvement, could beryllium devastating for Syria’s stability”.
Israel and Turkiye person been vying for power successful Syria since Assad was toppled successful December 2024.
In Qamishli successful the Kurdish-held northeast, hundreds of radical person protested the Aleppo violence.
“We telephone connected the planetary assemblage to intervene,” said protester Salaheddin Sheikhmous, 61, portion others held banners speechmaking “no to war” and “no to taste cleansing”.
