A landmark deal to integrate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) with state institutions has stalled as both sides accuse each other of violence.
Syria’s government has declared a ceasefire between its security forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, after at least one person was killed and four people were injured in overnight violence.
Murhaf Abu Qasra, Syria’s minister of defence, announced the ceasefire on Tuesday after meeting with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), saying the two sides had “agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and northeastern Syria”.
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“The implementation of this agreement will begin immediately,” the government minister added.
The Syrian army and the United States-backed SDF clashed after SDF fighters reportedly targeted checkpoints in the city, according to the state-run news agency SANA.
SDF forces allegedly fired into residential areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighbourhoods of Aleppo “with mortar shells and heavy machine guns”, SANA reported, adding there were civilian casualties.
Residents of the area told The Associated Press that two security guards in a public park were killed on Tuesday by shelling, and a woman and a child were wounded.
The SDF denied attacking the checkpoints and said its forces withdrew from the area months ago. It blamed the outbreak of violence on aggression by government forces.
It also issued a statement on Tuesday accusing government military factions of carrying out “repeated attacks” against civilians in the Aleppo neighbourhoods and imposing a siege on them.
The violence was the latest flare-up in tensions between the interim government and the SDF, which has sought to retain de facto autonomy in the northeast part of the country.
It was also another setback for the landmark deal struck in March by President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Abdi.
The agreement, brokered after the fall of ousted President Bashar al-Assad in December, was designed to integrate Kurdish-led forces into Syria’s state institutions.
It also would have seen key assets held by the SDF — including border crossings, an airport, and oil-and-gas fields — handed to Damascus by the end of the year. The SDF is estimated to control about a quarter of Syria’s land, mostly in the northeast part of the country.
The government in Damascus has hoped to consolidate its control over the country. But progress on the March plan has stalled.
Both Damascus and the SDF have accused each other of provocations that have increased tensions.
On Tuesday, the presidential office issued a statement that al-Sharaa had spoken to US envoy Tom Barrack to discuss how the plan might be implemented “in a manner that safeguards Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
They also discussed “ways to support the political process”, according to the statement.
On Monday, Syria published the results of its first parliamentary election since al-Assad was toppled, a landmark moment in the country’s fragile transition after nearly 14 years of civil war.
Most new members of the revamped People’s Assembly are Sunni Muslim and male. Electoral commission spokesperson Nawar Najmeh told a news conference on Monday that only four percent of the 119 members selected in the indirect vote were women and only two Christians were among the winners, sparking concerns about inclusivity and fairness.
