Kurdish fighters defy Aleppo truce, sparking fears of wider conflict amid civilian evacuations and international pressure
Kurdish fighters rejected a call to leave Syria’s Aleppo on Friday after the government announced a truce in deadly fighting that forced thousands of civilians to flee.
Since Tuesday, government forces had been fighting the US-backed Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Aleppo, the country’s second city.
The violence killed 21 people and was the latest challenge for a country still struggling to forge a new path after Islamist authorities ousted long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad just over a year ago.
It also forced around 30,000 families to flee their homes, according to the UN.
Both sides traded blame over who started the fighting, which came as they struggled to implement a deal to merge the Kurds’ administration and military into the country’s new government.
On Friday, the defence ministry announced a ceasefire in the fighting with the SDF, which controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, and was key to the defeat of Islamic State group in 2019.
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