ALEPPO: Kurdish groups in Aleppo vowed on Friday to defend their neighbourhoods from government forces, rejecting ceasefire terms declared by Damascus that demand Kurdish fighters withdraw from the Syrian city where clashes have raged this week.

The violence in Aleppo has exposed one of the main fault lines in Syria as the country tries to rebuild after a devastating war, with Kurdish forces resisting efforts by President Ahmed al Sharaa’s government to bring their fighters under centralised authority.

Nine civilians have been killed and more than 140,000 have fled their homes in Aleppo, where Kurdish forces are trying to cling on to several neighbourhoods they have controlled since the early days of the anti-Assad uprising in 2011.

Neither the government nor the Kurdish forces have announced a toll of casualties among their fighters.

The ceasefire announced by the defence ministry overnight demanded the withdrawal of Kurdish forces to the Kurdish-held northeast. That would effectively end Kurdish control over the pockets of Aleppo that they have been holding.

A ceasefire announce­ment by Damascus asks Kurd fighters to withdraw to the country’s north-east

But in a statement, Kurdish councils that run the Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah districts of Aleppo said calls to leave were “a call to surrender” and that Kurdish forces would instead “defend their neighbourhoods”, accusing government forces of intensive shelling.

Us hoping for calm

The ceasefire announcement asked Kurdish forces to withdraw by 9am on Friday, but no one withdrew till late in the evening, according to Syrian security sources.

Tom Barrack, the US envoy for Syria, had earlier welcomed a “temporary ceasefire” and said Washington was working intensively to extend it beyond the 9am deadline. “We are hopeful this weekend will bring a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue,” he wrote on X. Washington has been closely involved in efforts to promote integration between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which has enjoyed US military support for more than a decade, and the Damascus government, with which the United States has developed close ties under President Donald Trump.

However, little has been achiev­ed since the sides signed a framework agreement in March, which had called for the process to be completed by the end of last year.

A reporter in Aleppo saw more than a dozen empty buses entering Sheikh Maksoud on Friday morning.

Security sources said they were expected to carry Kurdish fighters towards eastern parts of Syria held by Kurdish forces. Syrian state TV later reported the buses had withdrawn without transporting anyone.

Neighbouring Turkiye views the SDF as a “terrorist organisation” linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2026