The Syrian army announced it would launch a new operation against positions of the U.S.-backed terrorist group YPG in Aleppo at 13:30 local time on Thursday. Authorities also declared a curfew in the province where intense clashes with the YPG entered its third day.

The army said it would launch "precision" operations in the Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyeh and Bani Zaid neighborhoods and urged civilians to stay away from these areas. They also issued a warning to the YPG to stop targeting civilians seeking to leave those areas through safe corridors. Unconfirmed reports say the YPG launched drone attacks on civilian crowds fleeing the neighborhoods, while Turkish media outlets claimed that some YPG members blended in with civilians evacuating the neighborhoods ahead of the major operation.

Deadly clashes erupted earlier this week between Syrian government forces and the YPG, as the two sides have so far failed to implement a March deal to integrate the YPG into the armed forces of post-Assad Syria. The YPG’s insistence on maintaining self-styled autonomy jeopardized the deal.

The Syrian army earlier said that military positions of the YPG in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo are "legitimate targets" following the group's escalation and "massacres" in the province.