{"id":231361,"date":"2026-01-10T19:07:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T19:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/231361\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T19:07:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T19:07:08","slug":"syria-says-kurdish-fighters-being-moved-from-aleppo-after-days-of-deadly-clashes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/231361\/","title":{"rendered":"Syria says Kurdish fighters being moved from Aleppo after days of deadly clashes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Syrian authorities on Saturday began transferring Kurdish fighters from the country\u2019s second city, Aleppo, to areas they control in the country\u2019s northeast, state television reported, after days of deadly clashes.<\/p>\n

The violence in Aleppo erupted after efforts to integrate the Kurds\u2019 de facto autonomous administration and military into the country\u2019s new government stalled.<\/p>\n

Since the fighting began on Tuesday, at least 21 civilians have been killed, according to figures from both sides, while Aleppo\u2019s governor said 155,000 people have been displaced.<\/p>\n

On Saturday evening, state television reported that Kurdish fighters \u201cwho announced their surrender\u2026 were transported by bus to the city of Tabaqa\u201d in the Kurdish-controlled northeast.<\/p>\n

An AFP correspondent saw at least five buses on Saturday carrying fighters leaving the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud district, accompanied by security forces.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition
\n\t\t\tby email and never miss our top stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n

In a statement to the official SANA news agency, the military announced earlier on Saturday \u201ca halt to all military operations in the Sheikh Maqsud neighborhood.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Syrian security source had told AFP that the last Kurdish fighters had entrenched themselves in the area of al-Razi hospital in Sheikh Maqsud, before being evacuated by authorities.<\/p>\n

Syria\u2019s Defense Ministry had declared a ceasefire on Friday after three days of clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo that displaced over 140,000 people, but fighting resumed in the evening.<\/p>\n

There was no public response from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces to the ceasefire announcement, while a local Kurdish council rejected calls for the evacuation of fighters.<\/p>\n

The defense ministry statement said the ceasefire became effective at 3 a.m. in the three city neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh, and Bani Zaid and gave armed groups six hours to leave the area.<\/p>\n

It said departing militants would be allowed to carry their \u201cpersonal light weapons\u201d and would be provided with an escort to the country\u2019s northeast, which is controlled by the SDF.<\/p>\n

Aleppo\u2019s Governor Azzam al-Gharib toured the contested neighborhoods with an escort of security forces overnight.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tKurdish fighters gather in Aleppo, Syria, January 9, 2026. (AP Photo\/Hogir Al Abdo)<\/p>\n

Associated Press journalists at the scene said a burst of machine-gun fire targeted the location the buses had entered from, and an artillery shell landed on the road, but calm quickly returned.<\/p>\n

A local council representing the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods issued a statement saying, \u201cWe will not accept the pressures imposed on us and the calls for surrender.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not trust the Damascus government to entrust our security to us, and we have decided to remain in our neighborhoods and defend them,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Friday evening, the Syrian army announced Sheikh Maqsoud to be a \u201cclosed military zone\u201d and launched what it described as a \u201cclearing operation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Barrack, the US envoy to Syria, welcomed the ceasefire announcement and extended \u201cprofound gratitude to all parties \u2013 the Syrian government, the Syrian Democratic Forces, local authorities, and community leaders \u2013 for the restraint and goodwill that made this vital pause possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barrack\u2019s statement on X said the US was working with the parties to extend the ceasefire beyond the six-hour deadline.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tCivilians evacuate the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo, Syria, January 10, 2026. (AP Photo\/Omar Albam)<\/p>\n

US President Donald Trump later told Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw that \u201cI want to see peace\u201d between the two sides.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Kurds and the Syrian government \u2013 we get along with both, as you know very well. They have been natural enemies over the years, but we get along with both,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018A good step\u2019<\/p>\n

An estimated 142,000 people have been displaced by the fighting that broke out on Tuesday with exchanges of shelling and drone strikes.<\/p>\n

Each side has accused the other of starting the violence and of deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods and infrastructure, including ambulance crews and hospitals.<\/p>\n

Kurdish forces said at least 12 civilians were killed in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, while government officials reported at least nine civilians were killed in the surrounding government-controlled areas in the fighting.<\/p>\n

Dozens more on both sides have been wounded. It was not clear how many fighters were killed on each side.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tResidents of Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood stand against the backdrop of damaged buildings, in Aleppo on January 10, 2026. (Bakr ALkasem \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Residents of the contested areas were hoping that the ceasefire would take hold Friday.<\/p>\n

Ahmed Hajjar, a tailor in Achrafieh, said the ceasefire announcement was \u201ca good step\u201d but called for the removal of army checkpoints around the neighborhood.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t work now, the workers aren\u2019t able to come, and I can\u2019t send any products outside,\u201d he said. \u201cIf I want to bring in textiles, I get stuck at the checkpoint for an hour and a half or two or three hours.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Syrian military accused the SDF of violating the ceasefire on Friday, saying it \u201ctargeted buses three times, shelled army positions, and attacked soldiers, resulting in the martyrdom of three soldiers and injuries to more than twelve others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The SDF-affiliated Internal Security Forces, meanwhile, said government forces had struck a hospital in Sheikh Maqsoud where civilians had taken refuge and put it out of service.<\/p>\n

SDF links to PKK<\/p>\n

The clashes come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.<\/p>\n

The leadership in Damascus under interim\u00a0President Ahmad al-Sharaa\u00a0had signed a deal in March last year with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a>
\n\t\tSyria\u2019s President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, receives European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, center, and European Council President Ant\u00f3nio Costa, right, upon their arrival at the presidential palace in Damascus, Syria, January 9, 2026. (European Commission via AP)<\/p>\n

Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President\u00a0Bashar Assad\u00a0in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.<\/p>\n

The SDF has for years been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers\u2019 Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.<\/p>\n

Despite the long-running US support for the SDF, the Trump administration has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa\u2019s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.<\/p>\n

Al-Sharaa spoke by phone Friday with Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party \u2014 the dominant Kurdish party in neighboring Iraq \u2014 both officials said in statements.<\/p>\n

The KDP has friendly relations with Turkey and has historically been at odds with the SDF and other groups aligned with the PKK, but over the past year, they have taken steps to mend ties.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Syrian authorities on Saturday began transferring Kurdish fighters from the country\u2019s second city, Aleppo, to areas they control…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":231362,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-231361","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=231361"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/231361\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/231362"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=231361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=231361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=231361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}