Thousands flee Aleppo as clashes between Syria’s army and SDF escalate

Fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has continued for a third day in the northern city of Aleppo, driving tens of thousands of residents out of their homes.

A curfew declared by the Syrian Army Operations Command came into force on Thursday at 1:30pm (10:30 GMT) in the city’s Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid neighbourhoods before Syrian government forces began what they called “targeted operations” against SDF positions in those areas.

The Syrian Army Operations Command released a map of what it said were SDF military positions in the neighbourhoods, urging civilians to stay away, and warned Kurdish-led forces not to target people trying to leave the neighbourhoods.

Fire and plumes of smoke rose from Aleppo’s Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhoods, as government forces began striking areas they had earlier declared targets. The SDF said it was engaged in heavy clashes on all fronts, and said it had repelled a large-scale attack on the neighbourhoods. SDF forces had downed two drones, it added.

Syrian state media reported that the SDF had targeted the al-Midan neighbourhood with artillery and mortar shelling, and had struck the University of Aleppo and al-Razi hospital, injuring a doctor there.

The SANA state news agency, quoting officials from the Ministry of Emergency and Disaster Management, reported that the SDF fighters had also targeted a Syrian Civil Defence ambulance with sniper fire.

Reporting from Aleppo, Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar said the fighting “may be the most fierce clashes seen so far”, as large numbers of government troops moved into the central parts of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud.

The SDF said at least eight civilians have been killed since fighting broke out on Tuesday, while government officials said at least five civilians have been killed and dozens more injured.

Large numbers of people have been displaced. Many have left on foot through humanitarian corridors opened by the Syrian army for civilians to leave flashpoint areas. They carried what they could, unsure of when or if they would return.

Some families have also been ferried out on city buses.

Some of the displaced civilians found shelter in mosques and schools in Aleppo, although they appeared to lack the capacity required, Serdar said.

He said a high-ranking security officer told him that in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, usually home to nearly 400,000 people, about two-thirds of the population had been displaced.

“That means more than 100,000 people are still there while heavy clashes, fierce fighting are continuing and that at any time could turn into a humanitarian crisis,” he said.

Serdar said footage was emerging showing people injured on the streets and security forces trying to reach them.

“Civilians who are trying to leave these areas are being targeted,” he said. “The SDF is accusing the government, while the government is accusing the SDF, of blocking people leaving the area.”

He said there were no direct negotiations between the SDF and the Syrian government, according to government sources, although Turkish and United States delegations were attempting to mediate between the sides to de-escalate the situation.

The SDF media office said it holds the Syrian government responsible for the humanitarian consequences of the fighting and warned that the continuation of its approach would lead to serious consequences.

Mass displacement

Aleppo’s Directorate of Social Affairs and Labour said more than 138,000 people had been displaced from Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh due to the fighting, as officials said they were implementing a comprehensive emergency plan to secure the exit of civilians from the affected areas.

“We fled the clashes, and we don’t know where to go. … Fourteen years of war, I think that’s enough,” Ahmed, a 38-year-old man who gave only his first name, told the AFP news agency while carrying his son on his back.

Another displaced resident, 41-year-old Ammar Raji, said he and his family were “forced to leave because of the difficult circumstances”.

“I have six children, including two young ones. … I am worried we will not return,” Raji said.

The clashes marked the fiercest fighting between the army and the SDF since the two sides failed to implement a March agreement to integrate the Kurdish-led forces into Syria’s new state institutions.

Schools, universities and government offices in the city were shut down on Wednesday, and authorities announced the suspension of flights to and from Aleppo’s airport until Thursday evening.

Serdar said Aleppo had previously been the scene of some of the worst fighting of Syria’s civil war.

“And once again, civilians are paying the price. What’s unfolding here is not just a local security incident; it reflects a deeper struggle over control, the legacy of civil war and the unresolved political future of post-war Syria,” he added.

Sectarian tensions

Both sides have blamed the other for triggering the violence, which broke out after US-mediated talks this week between government officials and the main SDF commander stalled with “no tangible results” achieved, according to state media.

The SDF took control of large swaths of territory in Syria’s north and northeast during the country’s 14-year war, and the group’s incorporation into state institutions has remained a point of contention since President Ahmed al-Sharaa took office a year ago.

The deal reached in March, in which the SDF agreed for “all civil and military institutions in northeastern Syria” to be merged into “the Syrian state, including border crossings, the airport, and oil and gas fields” has yet to be carried out.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa accused the SDF of violating the agreement more than 100 times and said at least 20 civilians have been killed in attacks over the past month.

“An urban city and major city like Aleppo cannot function under consistent threat for the daily life,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We are talking here about an agreement [that] has been signed and needs to be implemented. And until now, the SDF and the armed group inside this neighbourhood violated the agreement. And so … that’s [what] forced the government to secure the civilians and implement and restore the order on the ground,” he added.

In a statement, the SDF insisted it had no presence in the neighbourhoods and the areas “do not pose a military threat in any way”.

It also called on the Syrian army to “immediately halt the siege, bombardment and military offensive” and warned that the continuation of the hostilities could “turn Syria into an open battlefield again”.

The United Nations expressed concern. A spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called “on all actors to immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians”.

The spokesperson also urged “flexibility and goodwill” and the prompt resumption of negotiations to implement the March agreement.

Turkiye’s Ministry of National Defence said on Thursday that it was closely monitoring developments in the city and was ready to assist Syria if asked to do so.

Muhanad Seloom, an assistant professor in critical security studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that the fighting in Aleppo signals that the “honeymoon period” after the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 may be over.

“What we are looking at is a race between integration and disintegration,” Seloom said, referring to Damascus’s struggle to bring minority communities into national institutions and the danger it poses to the fragile Syrian state.

Analysts also said al-Sharaa’s efforts to amalgamate power and quell sectarian tensions among the numerous groups across Syria after al-Assad’s fall have not been helped by Israel.

Over the past year, Israel has launched more than 600 air, drone and artillery attacks across Syria, averaging nearly two a day, according to a monitoring group, as part of what experts said is a strategy to keep its neighbours weak.

But the US sees Syria as a crucial partner in the fight against ISIL (ISIS) and wants a strong government in Damascus to avoid the return of Iranian influence in the country.

Marie Forestier, a nonresident senior fellow for the Atlantic Council’s Syria Project, told Al Jazeera that the distance between Syrian, Israeli and US goals is “very difficult”, especially as “Israel is doing everything to destabilise Syria”.