Syrian Military Takes Aleppo Neighborhoods After Clashes With Kurds

The takeover ended one of the worst outbreaks of violence between the central government and the Kurdish-led forces since the end of the civil war just over a year ago.Soldiers of the Syrian army in Aleppo on Saturday, following clashes between government forces and a Kurdish fighters.Credit...Adri Salido/Getty ImagesJan. 11, 2026, 10:26 a.m. ETThe Syrian military took over two neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo formerly controlled by a Kurdish-led militia group on Sunday, after days of clashes that set back efforts to unify the country and bridge divisions among varied ethnic and religious groups.Shortly after midnight, fighters with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, or S.D.F., left the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh on buses and were taken to another city in northern Syria, according to Syrian state media. It said their weapons would be confiscated.The S.D.F. called it a “partial cease-fire” to prevent more deaths and ensure the safe evacuation of civilians and the wounded. Their retreat marked a victory for government forces and brought calm to Aleppo, one of the country’s biggest cities, after days of deadly violence.The fighting was the most intense there since the end of the civil war in December 2024, when Islamist-led rebel groups ousted the dictatorship of President Bashar al-Assad. The violence marked a worsening of relations between the two sides after months of negotiations to integrate the S.D.F. forces into the national military, and could be a significant blow to efforts to unite the country after a civil war that at times played along ethnic and religious lines.ImageCivilians evacuate a neighborhood in Aleppo on Saturday after days of violence that left at least 24 dead.Credit...Ghaith Alsayed/Associated PressAt least 24 civilians were killed in five days of fighting and more than 120 were injured, according to the Aleppo health directorate. The figure does not include those killed in Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh, where some of the most intense clashes took place. Thousands of civilians fled those neighborhoods on foot during the fighting, finding shelter mainly in other areas of Aleppo in mosques, churches and people’s homes, according to officials and residents.The clashes forced the closure of schools, government buildings and the airport in Aleppo, once the country’s main commercial hub.The post-Assad transition period has been rocky and punctuated by cycles of sectarian-driven violence, one of the biggest challenges facing President Ahmed al-Sharaa, the former commander of a rebel group allied to Al Qaeda. Two regions controlled by minority militias — the Kurdish northeast and the Druse-dominated southern province of Sweida — have refused to submit to the central government’s authority and to merge their fighters into the national military forces.These attacks, aimed at subjugating our people in the neighborhoods “alter the demographic composition of the area and break the dignity of our people,” the local security force in Sheikh Maqsood, a force affiliated with the S.D.F., said in a statement.The images of government buses evacuating retreating fighters bore a striking similarity to a common scene during the civil war, when rebels who surrendered were forced to leave an area after months or years of bombardment by the Assad regime and its allies.ImagePeople in Aleppo gather next to a bus carrying members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who surrendered following days of clashes.Credit...Khalil Ashawi/ReutersThe government has been criticized for concentrating power in the hands of Mr. al-Sharaa’s close inner circle and governing with authoritarian tendencies and a lack of inclusivity. Human rights groups have accused government forces of being involved in deadly attacks on Alawites, the religious minority group to which Mr. al-Assad belongs, and on the Druse, another minority group.Mr. al-Sharaa’s approach and the cycles of sectarian violence have meant that his government has struggled to gain the trust of these and other minority communities.The S.D.F. has long controlled a significant portion of northeast Syria. The group has refused to submit to control by the central government and has demanded a high degree of autonomy, something that Mr. al-Sharaa has rejected.The Druse in Sweida have made similar demands, as have some Alawite protesters in recent demonstrations in the coastal provinces.In March, the government and the S.D.F. reached an agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led forces into the national military by the end of 2025. But negotiations to put the deal into effect repeatedly stalled.The United States has partly facilitated the talks. For years, American governments have backed the S.D.F. in its fight against the Islamic State group. The Trump administration has established warm ties with Mr. al-Sharaa’s government and they have cooperated to fight the remnants of Islamic State in Syria.On Saturday, the U.S. conducted major airstrikes against the Islamic State in retaliation for an attack last month that killed two U.S. Army soldiers and a civilian interpreter in Syria.ImageDebris and damage from a shelling attack in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood of Aleppo.Credit...Adri Salido/Getty ImagesReham Mourshed contributed reporting.Raja Abdulrahim reports on the Middle East and is based in Jerusalem.SKIP