ALEPPO: Civilians were fleeing Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo on Wednesday after the Syrian army declared them &quot;closed military zones&quot;, amid ongoing fighting with Kurdish-led forces in the northern city. The deadly clashes, which started on Tuesday, are the worst between the two sides, who have so far failed to implement a March deal to merge the Kurds&#39; semi-autonomous administration and military into Syria&#39;s new government. In a statement, the army said that &quot;the Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods will be considered closed military zones after 3.00 pm today&quot;, adding that &quot;two safe humanitarian crossings&quot; would be put in place for civilians to leave. AFP correspondents in Aleppo saw large groups of families with children leaving the neighborhoods, carrying their belongings with them, some in tears. &quot;All Syrian Democratic Forces military positions within the Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo are legitimate military targets,&quot; the army said referring to the Kurdish-led force. Senior Kurdish official Ilham Ahmed accused Damascus of launching a &quot;genocidal war&quot; against the Kurds, calling on the Syrian government to &quot;pursue a path of reason to resolve problems through dialogue&quot;. Echoes of war The violence caused the suspension of flights to and from Aleppo&#39;s airport, with schools, universities and government offices in the city shut down. Tuesday&#39;s clashes killed nine people, mostly civilians, with both sides trading blame over who started the fighting. Joud Serjian, a 53-year-old housewife and resident of the Syriac Quarter, said the violence &quot;reminded us of the war.&quot; Living in the Syriac Quarter near Ashrafieh, Serjian said &quot;we have nowhere else to go, so we&#39;ll stay in our home.&quot; During the Syrian civil war, Aleppo was the scene of fierce fighting between rebels and forces of ousted President Bashar al-Assad before he regained control of the city in 2016.&nbsp;Assad was ousted in a lightning offensive in 2024. Abdul Karim Omar, representative of the Kurds&#39; autonomous administration in Damascus, told AFP Aleppo&#39;s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods were &ldquo;completely besieged.&rdquo;&nbsp;He denied that any shells had been fired from these areas, arguing that they are controlled by the Kurds&#39; Asayish domestic security forces &quot;who only have light weapons&quot;. Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the control of Kurdish units linked to the SDF, despite Kurdish fighters agreeing to withdraw from the areas in April. The SDF controls swathes of Syria&#39;s oil-rich north and northeast, with the backing of a US-led international coalition, was key to the territorial defeat of the ISIS in Syria in 2019. The March agreement on the Kurdish authority&#39;s integration into the state was supposed to be implemented by the end of 2025.&nbsp;The Kurds are pushing for decentralized rule, an idea which Syria&#39;s new authorities have rejected.

Middle East

The deadly clashes are the worst between the two sides, who have so far failed to implement a March deal to merge the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration and military into Syria's new government.

Syrians flee Aleppo's Kurdish areas as army declares them 'military zones'

DAMASCUS: Syrian Kurdish leader Mazloum Abdi has announced to AFP that he had reached a &quot;preliminary agreement&quot; with Damascus on the integration of his troops into Syria&#39;s military and security forces. Abdi, who heads the powerful Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), had met Syrian interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus last week, along with US envoy Tom Barrack and US commander Brad Cooper. While the Kurdish forces -- who control large swathes of Syria&#39;s oil-rich northeast -- had signed an agreement with the new Syrian authorities in March to merge their civil and military institutions, the deal&#39;s terms were not implemented. &quot;What is new in our recent talks in Damascus is the shared determination and strong will to accelerate the implementation of the terms&quot; of the agreement, Abdi told AFP in an interview at a military base in the northeastern city of Hasakeh on Sunday. &quot;The most important point is having reached a preliminary agreement regarding the mechanism for integrating the SDF and the (Kurdish) Internal Security Forces within the framework of defence and interior ministries,&quot; he added. The Washington-backed SDF and Kurdish security forces consist of around 100,000 male and female members, according to them. The SDF played a vital role in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, which ultimately led to the jihadist organisation&#39;s territorial defeat in the country in 2019. Abdi said that military and security delegations from his forces are currently in Damascus to discuss the mechanism for their integration. Disagreements After the fall of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December, Sharaa announced the dissolution of all armed groups, to be absorbed by state institutions.&nbsp;Abdi explained that &quot;the SDF will be restructured through its integration into the defence ministry&quot;, as part of several formations. However, some disagreements remain. &quot;We demand a decentralised system in Syria... we have not agreed on it,&quot; he added, as they are &quot;still discussing finding a common formula acceptable to all&quot;. He stressed that they &quot;agree on the territorial integrity of Syria, the unity of national symbols, the independence of political decision-making in the country, and the fight against terrorism&quot;. &quot;We all agree that Syria should not return to the era of war, and that there should be stability and security. I believe these factors are sufficient for us to reach a permanent agreement.&quot; During the last meeting with Sharaa, Abdi said he had called for &quot;modifying or adding some clauses to the existing constitutional declaration&quot; announced in March, particularly those related to &quot;guaranteeing the rights of the Kurdish people in the constitution&quot;. &quot;There was a positive response to this matter, and we hope this will happen soon,&quot; he added. Abdi also expressed his gratitude to the United States and France for facilitating negotiations with Damascus. Asked about Damascus&#39;s main backer Turkey, which has always been hostile to the SDF, Abdi said &quot;any success of the negotiations will certainly depend on Turkey&#39;s role&quot;, expressing hope that it will play a &quot;supportive and contributing role in the ongoing negotiation process&quot;. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the SDF on Wednesday to &quot;keep their word&quot; and &quot;complete their integration with Syria&quot;. When questioned on the region&#39;s fossil fuel reserves, Abdi noted they &quot;have not yet discussed the oil issue, but it will certainly be addressed in upcoming meetings&quot;.&nbsp; &quot;Oil and other underground resources in northeastern Syria to belong to all Syrians, and their revenues and revenues must be distributed fairly across all Syrian provinces&quot;.

Syrian men attend their noon prayer, left, as others play racket ball at a public beach on the Mediterranean sea, in the coastal city of Latakia, Syria. (AP)

While the Kurdish forces -- who control large swathes of Syria's oil-rich northeast -- had signed an agreement with the new Syrian authorities in March to merge their civil and military institutions, the deal's terms were not implemented.

Articles tagged with "Syrian Kurds"

Syrians flee Aleppo's Kurdish areas as army declares them 'military zones'

Syrian Kurdish leader says reached first deal on merging forces with regular army