Deadly clashes erupt in Syria’s Aleppo as US-backed SDF forces defy HTS rule

Syria’s northern city of Aleppo has witnessed its deadliest clashes yet between Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) regime forces and US-backed fighters, as insecurity persists across the country a year after the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad.

Clashes erupted on Tuesday in Aleppo’s predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, resulting in casualties among both soldiers and civilians.

These confrontations underscore the continued failure to integrate the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the HTS army, as well as the heavy toll inflicted on civilians caught in the crossfire.

Syria’s news agency SANA reported that an HTS regime soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack by the SDF, while shelling of residential areas killed three civilians, including two women, and wounded others, including two children.

Nine employees of Aleppo’s Directorate of Agriculture were also injured, the report added.

This is while the SDF denied responsibility for civilian casualties, blaming “factions affiliated with the Damascus government,” and claiming their shelling targeted the adjacent Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud.

“This indiscriminate shelling constitutes a direct attack on residential areas and exposes the lives of civilians to grave danger,” the SDF added.

Civilians continue to bear the brunt of the fighting. A drone strike by HTS forces killed a Sheikh Maqsoud resident and wounded two children, while shelling in Bani Zaid killed a woman and injured dozens more.

At al-Razi Hospital, Ahmad Abu Sheikh watched his 4-year-old daughter, Fatima, lose an eye to shrapnel from the shelling.

At least nine people, mostly civilians, have so far been killed and many wounded in the recent fighting, as heavy shelling continues.

Afrin Jawan, a local activist, said thousands were besieged in Kurdish neighborhoods “and subjected to indiscriminate shelling with all types of heavy and medium weapons ... by factions affiliated with the Ministry of Defense in Damascus.” Although a tense calm returned briefly, clashes quickly resumed.

The HTS regime's "defense ministry" has declared all SDF positions in those districts “legitimate military targets” and imposed a military closure on the areas, while accusing the SDF of escalating hostilities and targeting civilians.

Efforts to merge the SDF, which controls much of northeast Syria and comprises tens of thousands of fighters, into the Syrian army have stalled.

Kurdish forces say HTS enabling Daesh drone strikes in northern Syria

Tensions have grown between Syria’s new military and the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) as the US-sponsored Kurdish-led militant group says the HTS-led regime is facilitating attacks by the Daesh terrorist group.

An agreement reached in March stipulated full integration by the end of 2025, and some SDF fighters left Aleppo neighborhoods in April under the deal as officials in Damascus reported no tangible progress after Sunday’s talks.

Both sides accuse each other of attempting to sabotage the agreement, with the HTS regime saying that the SDF organization "once again proves that it does not recognize the March 10 Agreement and is trying to derail it and drag the army into an open battle of its choosing.”

The SDF, the main US partner in the Arab country, condemned the attacks it attributed to the HTS as a “blatant violation of international humanitarian law,” describing them as “planned and deliberate, systematically targeting infrastructure and essential services, including water and electricity.”

Meanwhile, Washington continues to support the SDF, whose association with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has made it a target of Turkey. Ankara considers the group a terrorist organization.

The clashes underscore both Washington’s destabilizing influence in Syria and the ongoing civilian suffering caused by foreign-backed Kurdish forces and those loyal to former al‑Qaeda member Abu Mohammad al‑Jolani, who now leads the current HTS‑led regime in Damascus.

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