Kurdish fighters leave Aleppo, Syria, after days of clashes
The last fighters of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) left the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday, state television Ekhbariya TV reported after a ceasefire was agreed, allowing for evacuation after several days of heavy fighting.
This departure marks the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from parts of Aleppo that they had controlled since the start of the war in Syria in 2011, with Kurdish forces continuing to administer a semi-autonomous zone in large parts of northeastern Syria.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi said in a post on X that the group had reached an agreement through international mediation on a ceasefire and the safe evacuation of civilians and fighters from two districts of Aleppo to northern and eastern Syria.
The violence in Aleppo has deepened one of the main conflicts in Syria, where President Ahmad Shar's promise to unite the country under one leadership after 14 years of war has been met with resistance from Kurdish forces who fear his Islamist-oriented government.
Fighting in Syria's second-largest city between forces loyal to interim President Ahmad Shar and Kurdish militants linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been ongoing since Tuesday and is considered the most intense since the fall of longtime ruler Bashar Assad in December 2024.
(reuters, im)