New deadly clashes between Syrian forces and Kurdish fighters erupt in Aleppo

Deadly Clashes Erupt Between Syrian Government Forces and Kurdish Fighters in Aleppo

The most lethal confrontation to date between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters broke out Tuesday in the contested northern city of Aleppo, highlighting the challenges in implementing a March agreement to integrate U.S.-backed Kurdish forces into Syria’s national military structure.

According to Syria’s state-run SANA news agency, one soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The violence quickly escalated, with state television later reporting that three civilians, including two women, died in residential area shelling that government sources attributed to the SDF. The agency also reported that nine employees of the Aleppo Directorate of Agriculture were wounded when their office was hit.

The SDF vehemently denied responsibility for the civilian casualties, instead claiming that a shell from “factions affiliated with the Damascus government” struck the al-Midan neighborhood. The Kurdish-led forces suggested the intended target was the adjacent Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.

“This indiscriminate shelling constitutes a direct attack on residential areas and exposes the lives of civilians to grave danger,” the SDF said in a statement.

The situation grew more complex as the SDF reported additional casualties not mentioned in state media accounts. They claimed a government drone strike killed one resident of Sheikh Maqsoud and wounded two children, while separate shelling in the nearby Bani Zaid neighborhood reportedly killed a woman and wounded dozens more.

The human toll became painfully evident at Aleppo’s Al-Razi Hospital. Ahmad Abu Sheikh waited anxiously as his 4-year-old daughter Fatima underwent hours of surgery after being struck by shell fragments. “I just want to know what can I tell my daughter when I see her? Where did her eye go?” he said, revealing that his daughter had lost an eye in the attack.

Afrin Jawan, a civil society activist in Sheikh Maqsoud, described a dire humanitarian situation, stating that thousands of civilians were trapped in Kurdish neighborhoods “and subjected to indiscriminate shelling with all types of heavy and medium weapons… by factions affiliated with the Ministry of Defense in Damascus.”

The predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh have experienced sporadic violence in recent months, with previous clashes typically ending through negotiated truces. By Tuesday evening, a temporary calm had settled over the area, though fighting resumed within hours.

The renewed violence underscores the significant obstacles facing the March agreement signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, which aims to integrate the SDF into Syria’s military by the end of 2025. Despite a meeting between government and SDF officials in Damascus just days earlier on Sunday, sources indicated that no meaningful progress had been achieved.

The integration process faces substantial hurdles, particularly because some factions within the new Syrian army—formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in December 2024—were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups with a history of conflict with Kurdish forces.

This dynamic is further complicated by regional politics. While the SDF has served as the primary U.S. partner in Syria in the fight against Islamic State, Turkey designates the group as a terrorist organization due to its connections with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged a long-running insurgency inside Turkey. A peace process addressing this conflict is reportedly underway.

Both sides have accused each other of attempting to undermine the March agreement. Syria’s Defense Ministry claimed the SDF “once again proves that it does not recognize the March 10 Agreement and is trying to derail it and drag the army into an open battle of its choosing.”

The SDF countered by accusing government forces of committing a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law” through their targeting of civilian areas. The Kurdish-led group described the attacks as “planned and deliberate, systematically targeting infrastructure and essential services, including water and electricity.”

As tensions remain high in Aleppo, the prospect of successfully merging these historically adversarial forces appears increasingly challenging, raising questions about the future stability of Syria’s fragile post-Assad political landscape.