Syrian government militias, Kurdish SDF agree to ceasefire in Aleppo

Syria defence minister says agreed ceasefire with the Kurds

DAMASCUS,— Syrian Islamist government militias and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed to halt fighting in Aleppo following clashes that killed at least two people, Syrian state outlets said on Tuesday.

State television said a member of the government’s domestic security services and one civilian were killed Monday in bombardments the authorities blamed on Kurdish fighters. Three others were reported wounded.

The confrontation centered on Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, two predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods still under SDF-linked control even though Aleppo has been run by Islamist authorities since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad late last year.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a group based in Britain, said government troops struck the neighborhoods with explosive drones. It said reinforcements surrounded the districts and cut communications as pressure on the local population grew.

Syrian government Islamist militias surrounded Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods in Aleppo, Syrian, October 6, 2025. Photo: ANHA

Kurdish residents began leaving in significant numbers after barrages of mortar fire and heavy machine-gun rounds, the official Syrian News Channel reported. Aleppo’s governor, Azzam al-Gharib, called on those who remained to stay indoors and avoid frontline zones.

The state-run SANA news agency said some wounded civilians were taken to hospitals before reporting later that both sides had reached a ceasefire. No further terms of the deal were released.

The SDF rejected claims that its fighters attacked Syrian government forces, insisting Damascus-aligned units had escalated by laying siege to Kurdish-held areas and trying to advance with tanks. It accused government factions of “daily provocations,” including kidnapping residents, blocking medical shipments, and building barriers around the neighborhoods.

“Some outlets are spreading false allegations,” the SDF said in a statement. “Our forces have not been present in Ashrafieh or Sheikh Maqsoud since their withdrawal under the April 1 agreement.”

The Kurdish group said local civilians had taken up arms alongside the Asayish, the Kurdish internal security force, to defend the two districts.

The Observatory said tensions between Damascus and the Kurdish Autonomous Administration of Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava) have been intensifying across northern Syria, and Aleppo has become the latest flashpoint.

Syria and Kurdish forces, the de facto army of Syrian Kurdistan, have agreed to a full ceasefire after deadly overnight fighting in Aleppo, the country’s defense minister said on Tuesday.

Murhaf Abu Qasra confirmed in a message posted on X that he held talks with top Kurdish commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), General Mazloum Abdi in Damascus.

He said both sides settled on an immediate ceasefire and arrangements for redeployment of units in northern and the Kurdish region in northeastern Syria.

According to a Syrian government source who spoke to AFP, Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is also known by the name Abu Mohammed al-Golani, also met Abdi the same day with U.S. representatives present. The meeting marked the first direct encounter between the two since July.

A separate source close to the talks, requesting anonymity, said U.S. officials at the meeting included Tom Barrack, Washington’s envoy for Syria, and Admiral Brad Cooper, head of the U.S. Central Command.

The session also revisited a March deal under which Kurdish-led bodies in Rojava Kurdistan would be folded into the Syrian state structure. Implementation of that earlier plan has faced repeated delays.

(With files from AFP | SDF | Agencies)