Syria forces say some Kurdish fighters have left Aleppo
Security sources say dozens of Kurdish fighters have fled Syria’s second-largest city and the army is still working to clear out the remaining hardline group of fighters after a ceasefire failed to end days of deadly fighting.
The violence in Aleppo has deepened one of the main fault lines in Syria; Here, President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s promise to unify the country under a single leadership after 14 years of war has met with resistance from Kurdish forces wary of the Islamist-led government.
The United States and other world powers welcomed the ceasefire earlier in the week, but Kurdish forces have refused to abandon Sheikh Maksud’s last stronghold as part of the deal.
The Syrian army said it would launch a ground operation to clear them and comb the neighborhood on Saturday.
Reuters reporters later saw dozens of men, women and children walking out of the neighborhood.
Syrian soldiers put them on buses and told them they would be taken to refugee shelters.
More than 140,000 people have already been displaced by this week’s conflict.
Reuters reporters later saw more than 100 men walking out of the neighborhood with security forces.
The men were dressed in civilian clothes and were put on six buses.
Syrian security officials at the scene said that these people were identified as members of the Kurdish internal security forces known as Asayish and that they surrendered.
There was no comment from Asayish or other Kurdish officials on the issue.
US envoy Tom Barrack said on Saturday that he met with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi in Amman to reinforce the ceasefire and ensure the “peaceful withdrawal” of Kurdish forces from Aleppo.
Earlier on Saturday, three Syrian security sources told Reuters that a group of Kurdish fighters, including some of their commanders and their families, had been secretly taken from Aleppo to the country’s northeast.
Ilham Ahmed, who heads the Kurdish government’s foreign affairs department, welcomed an agreement overnight for the “safe redeployment of fighters from Sheikh Maksud to eastern Syria”, but there was no public announcement that the withdrawal was complete.
Security sources said Kurdish fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces were still hiding in a hospital in Sheikh Maksoud. –
The SDF said it was locked in street fighting against government forces on Saturday, accusing them of indiscriminately bombing civilian infrastructure, including a hospital where civilians were hiding.
They said the attacks were supported by Turkish UAVs, but a Turkish security source denied the use of Turkish UAVs and said the operation was “largely completed, there was no need for Turkish support.”
The Syrian army has denied carrying out indiscriminate attacks and accused the SDF of using a drone attack on the Aleppo city hall.
SDF denied the claim.
The capture of Sheikh Maksud by the army will end Kurdish control of Aleppo, which has been held by Kurdish forces since the start of the Syrian war in 2011.
Kurdish forces still hold much of northeastern Syria, where they govern a semi-autonomous region.
They have resisted efforts to integrate into Syria’s new government, made up of former rebel fighters who ousted longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.
Clashes broke out in Aleppo on Tuesday after unification talks stalled, leaving at least nine civilians dead.
The clashes are the latest in sectarian violence in Syria.
More than 1,000 people from the Alawite minority were killed by government forces in the coastal regions of Syria in 2025, while hundreds of people from the Druze minority were killed, including execution-style killings, in the southern province of Sweida.
