Syrian authorities urge civilians to evacuate Aleppo neighbourhoods as clashes with Kurds continue

     Aleppo (Syria), Jan 8 (AP) Syrian authorities warned civilians to leave a contested area in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday and opened a corridor for them to evacuate for a second day as clashes continued between government and Kurdish forces.
     The government of Aleppo province gave residents until 1 pm local time to evacuate in coordination with the army. State news agency SANA, citing the army, said the military would begin “targeted operations” against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid half an hour after that deadline.
     The military later issued a series of maps with the areas under evacuation order.
     An Associated Press journalist at the scene heard sporadic sounds of shelling as civilians streamed out of the area Thursday morning. As of Wednesday, more than 46,000 people had been displaced across the province, according to Aleppo's Directorate of Social Affairs and Labour.
     Mohammad Ali, operations director with the Syrian Civil Defence in Aleppo, said some 11,000 more fled Thursday.
     “There's a large percentage of them with difficult medical issues, elderly people, women, and children,” he said.
     The SDF has said that at least eight civilians were killed in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods, while government officials reported that at least five civilians and one soldier have been killed in the surrounding government-controlled areas in the fighting that broke out on Tuesday. Dozens more on both sides have been wounded.
     Each side has accused the other of deliberately targeting civilian neighbourhoods and infrastructure.
    
     Churches hosting displaced
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     St. Ephrem Syrian Orthodox Church in Aleppo city was hosting about 100 people who had fled the fighting. Parishioners had donated mattresses, blankets and food, priest Adai Maher said.
     “As soon as the problems started and we heard the sounds (of clashes), we opened our church as a shelter for people who are fleeing their homes," he said.
     Among them was Georgette Lulu, who said her family is planning to travel to the city of Hasakeh in SDF-controlled northeast Syria when the security situation allows.
     “There was a lot of bombing and loud noises, and a shell landed next to our house,” she said. “I've been through these circumstances a lot, so I don't get frightened, but my niece was really afraid, so we had to come to the church.”
     Hassan Nader, a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs in Aleppo, said about 4,000 were staying in shelters in the city while tens of thousands had gone to other areas of the province, and the ministry was working with NGOs to supply them with food, medicine and other necessities.
    
     Political impasse
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     The clashes come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.
     The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a deal in March 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. In April, scores of SDF fighters left Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh as part of the deal.
     Officials from the central government and SDF met again on Sunday in Damascus, but government officials said that no tangible progress had been made.
     Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkiye-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
     In the city of Qamishli in the Kurdish-controlled northeast, thousands of protesters gathered Thursday, chanting in support of the SDF and against the government offensive.
    
     International concerns
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     The SDF has for years been the main US partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkiye considers the SDF a terrorist organisation because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkiye. A peace process is now underway.
     Despite the long-running US support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the US has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa's government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
     A US State Department official said in a statement Thursday that the US “is closely monitoring the situation” and urged “restraint on all sides.” It said US envoy Tom Barrack is trying to facilitate dialogue between the two sides.
     “All parties should focus on how to build a peaceful, stable Syria that protects and serves the interests of all Syrians, rather than pushing the country back into a cycle of violence,” the statement said.
     Turkiye's Ministry of National Defence said Thursday that the “operation is being carried out entirely by the Syrian Army” while Turkiye is “closely monitoring.”
     “Syria's security is our security,” the statement said, adding that “Turkiye will provide the necessary support should Syria request it.”
     The United Nations has expressed concern at the violence.
     UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres “is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries following hostilities in Aleppo.”
     “We call on all actors to immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint, and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians” and to “promptly resume negotiations in order to fully implement the 10 March agreement,” he said. (AP) SKS
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(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)