Aleppo/Damascus, December 24: At least two civilians were killed on Monday in clashes between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northern city of Aleppo, as talks continued over plans to integrate the U.S.-backed group into Syria’s new national army.
A medical source said two civilians were killed and 11 others wounded after SDF forces opened fire on Syrian security positions near the Sheihan and Lairmoun roundabouts. Syria’s state news agency SANA reported that dozens of families and workers fled the area as fighting intensified.
The Syrian Civil Defence said two of its rescuers were injured when their vehicle came under fire, while two children were wounded by gunfire near the Sheihan roundabout.
In a statement carried by SANA, Syria’s interior ministry said two security personnel, including a soldier, were injured in what it described as a “treacherous” attack by SDF fighters stationed in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods of Aleppo.
The SDF denied targeting civilians, accusing factions affiliated with the Syrian government of initiating the violence, a claim rejected by Damascus.
After hours of exchanges involving heavy machine-gun fire and mortar shelling, both sides agreed late on Monday to halt firing. Syria’s defence ministry said the army’s general staff had ordered forces to stop targeting sources of fire, while the SDF said it had instructed its fighters to cease responding to attacks.
The clashes came as senior Syrian and Turkish officials held talks in Damascus on the integration of the SDF into Syria’s state institutions, ahead of a looming deadline for implementing an agreement signed in March.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who took power after the ouster of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad last December, reached a deal earlier this year with the SDF to integrate the group into the country’s new army. However, details of the process were left vague and implementation has stalled.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan was in Damascus on Monday for discussions with Syrian officials. Ankara has opposed the SDF integrating as a single unit, citing its links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkiye designates as a terrorist organisation.
The SDF, which controls large parts of northeastern Syria and fields about 50,000 fighters, has said preliminary agreement exists for three affiliated divisions to join the new army as units, though no final deal has been announced.
Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani accused the SDF of dragging its feet on implementation, saying there had been “systematic procrastination”. He said Damascus had submitted a proposal to move the process forward and received a response on Sunday that was now under review.
Analysts say failure to reach an agreement by the end of the year risks further violence, with the issue of integrating the SDF seen as one of the most sensitive and destabilising challenges facing Syria’s post-war political transition.
