Clashes Between Syrian Government and Kurdish-Led Militia Restart After Deaths

Fighting in the city of Aleppo resumed as talks to integrate the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces into the national military appear to have stalled.A girl who was wounded during clashes between the Syrian Army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces was at a hospital in Aleppo, Syria, on Tuesday.Credit...Karam Al-Masri/ReutersJan. 7, 2026, 10:20 a.m. ETSeveral people have been killed in fighting between Syrian Government forces and a Kurdish-led militia in the northern city of Aleppo, after two days of deadly clashes that have closed schools, government offices and an airport.The fighting has been some of the most intense between government forces and the militia, the Syrian Democratic Forces, and comes as efforts to integrate the group into the national military appear to have stalled.Since the start of the violence on Tuesday, at least four civilians have been killed in government-held areas of the city, health officials in Aleppo said on Wednesday. One soldier was also killed, according to SANA, the government news agency. The S.D.F. said seven civilians had been killed in the two neighborhoods that it controls, but it has not disclosed if any combatants have died.The exchanges of fire between government forces and the S.D.F. resumed on Wednesday after a brief lull in the violence, according to residents, SANA and the S.D.F. Each side has blamed the other for starting the clashes.The government said on Wednesday that it had imposed a curfew on the two neighborhoods as it sought to stop S.D.F. attacks and restore security, according to SANA.The government has said that all S.D.F. military positions there would be considered legitimate military targets, according to state media, and warned people to stay away from the sites. It also announced the opening of two humanitarian corridors for people to leave the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods.Relations with the Syrian Democratic Forces, which controls much of the country’s northeast, have been one of the biggest challenges for the central government since it took power after the ouster of the dictator Bashar al-Assad in December 2024. Talks over integrating the S.D.F. forces into the new Syrian military and extending central government control over S.D.F. areas have dragged on for months and repeatedly stalled.The tensions between the government and the S.D.F. reflect the broader challenge of reuniting Syria after nearly 14 years of a brutal civil war that at times played along ethnic and religious lines in the country. The government, led by former Islamist rebels, has struggled to gain the trust of some minority communities.ImageA wounded man arriving at the hospital after being injured amid the clashes in Aleppo.Credit...Adri Salido/Getty ImagesHuman rights groups have accused forces affiliated with the government of being involved in deadly attacks on Alawites, the religious minority to which Mr. al-Assad belongs, and on the Druse, another religious minority.As in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, the predominantly Druse Sweida Province in the south has recently refused to submit to control by the central government, and some Druse leaders have called for more autonomy.Both the government forces and the S.D.F. have blamed each other for violating cease-fire agreements in Aleppo and reigniting the fighting.In March, President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the S.D.F. leader, signed an agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led forces into the national military by the end of 2025. But efforts to put the deal into effect have stalled, and brief clashes have regularly broken out between the two sides.The negotiations have been partly facilitated by the United States, which for years has backed the Syrian Democratic Forces and has established warm ties with Mr. al-Sharaa’s government.Reham Mourshed, Hwaida Saad and Dayana Iwaza contributed reporting.Raja Abdulrahim reports on the Middle East and is based in Jerusalem.SKIP