SDF Refuse to Leave Syria's Aleppo After Truce

Since Jan. 6, government forces had been fighting the YPG-led SDF in Aleppo, the country's second city.

The violence killed 21 people and was the latest challenge for a country still struggling to forge a new path after Islamist authorities ousted longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad just over a year ago.

On Jan. 9, the Defense Ministry announced a ceasefire in the fighting with the SDF, which controls swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast.

"To prevent any slide towards a new military escalation within residential neighborhoods, the Ministry of Defense announces ... a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsud, Ashrafiyeh and Bani Zeid neighborhoods of Aleppo, effective from 3 a.m.," the ministry wrote in a statement.

The SDF members were given until 9 a.m. on Jan. 9 to leave the three neighborhoods, while the Aleppo governorate said the fighters would be sent, along with their light weapons, to Kurdish areas further east.

Hours later, the local councils of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh said the SDF would not leave. 

"We have decided to remain in our districts and defend them," the statement said, rejecting any "surrender.”

An AFP photographer located on the edge of Ashrafiyeh saw members of the security forces enter the area, as well as vehicles that appeared to be preparing to evacuate Kurdish fighters.

The United States welcomed the ceasefire in a post on X by its envoy Tom Barrack.

He said Washington hoped for "a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue" and was "working intensively to extend this ceasefire and spirit of understanding.”

On Jan. 8, the Syrian army launched a limited and targeted operation against the SDF military positions. Media reported that a large number of SDF members defected in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, while others fled.

The developments came days after SDF leader Mazloum Abdi visited Damascus for talks on the March integration deal.

The agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including Kurdish demands for decentralized rule, have stymied progress.

Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the control of Kurdish units linked to the SDF, despite Kurdish fighters agreeing to withdraw from the areas in April. 

Turkey, which shares a 900-kilometer (550-mile) border with Syria, has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from the frontier.

Meanwhile, in Damascus, Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa met with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, as she became the highest ranking EU official to visit since longtime ruler Assad was ousted.

Von der Leyen is conducting a regional tour alongside Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council. 

"We will continue working together in support of a peaceful and inclusive Syrian-led and Syrian-owned transition," said a joint EU-Jordan statement issued on the eve of the EU leaders' arrival in Damascus.

Syria is struggling to forge a new path after years of war sparked by a brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2011.