The U.S.-backed PKK/YPG terrorists on Friday rejected a call to leave Syria’s northern city of Aleppo after the government announced a cease-fire in deadly clashes that forced thousands of civilians to flee.
The YPG attacks killed nine and were the latest challenge for a country still struggling to forge a new path after anti-regime forces ousted longtime dictator Bashar Assad just over a year ago.
It also forced around 30,000 families to flee their homes, according to the U.N.
The fighting came as Damascus and the YPG struggle to implement a deal to merge the YPG into the country’s new military.
On Friday, the Defense Ministry announced a cease-fire in the terrorist operation against the YPG, which occupies swathes of Syria's oil-rich north and northeast, and is an ally to Washington under the pretext of fighting Daesh terrorists.
"To prevent any slide towards a new military escalation within residential neighborhoods, the Ministry of Defence announces... a cease-fire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsud, Ashrafiyeh and Bani Zeid neighborhoods of Aleppo, effective from 3:00 a.m.," the ministry wrote in a statement.
The YPG terrorists were given until 9 a.m. Friday (6 a.m. GMT) to leave the three neighborhoods, while the Aleppo governorate said the terrorists would be sent, along with their light weapons, to areas further east of the Euphrates River, which the group occupies.
Hours later, the local councils of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh said the YPG terrorists would not leave.
"We have decided to remain in our districts and defend them," the statement said, rejecting any "surrender."
An Agence France-Presse (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 YPG terrorists.
The United States welcomed the cease-fire 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."
Türkiye said it was in talks with Washington and Damascus to find a peaceful resolution to the clashes.
Security sources on Friday said Ankara expects the PKK/YPG to “avoid harming Syria’s territorial integrity, political unity or social peace.”
“Türkiye’s primary aim is preserving Syria’s territorial integrity and centralization,” security sources added.
An AFP correspondent reported fierce fighting across Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsud districts into Thursday night. On Friday morning, the truce appeared to be holding.
Syria's military had instructed civilians in those neighborhoods to leave through humanitarian corridors ahead of launching the operation.
State television reported that around 16,000 people had fled on Thursday alone.
"We've gone through very difficult times ... my children were terrified," said Rana Issa, 43, whose family left Ashrafiyeh on Thursday.
"Many people want to leave," but are afraid of the snipers, she told AFP.
Ferhat Abdi Şahin, who leads the YPG, said attacks on YPG-held areas "undermine the chances of reaching understandings," days after he visited Damascus for talks on the March integration deal.
The agreement was meant to be implemented last year, but differences, including the YPG’s new demands for decentralized rule, have stymied progress.
Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the control of Kurdish units linked to the YPG, despite the group agreeing to withdraw from the areas in April.
Türkiye, which shares a 900-kilometer (550-mile) border with Syria, has launched successive offensives to push the PKK/YPG from the frontier. The YPG is the Syrian extension of the PKK terrorist group, which has killed over 40,000 people in a bloody campaign since the 1980s.
