Syria’s military says its forces have taken control of dozens of towns in eastern Aleppo governorate after the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from the area.
later take out After deadly clashes with Kurdish forces from the city of Aleppo last week, the Syrian army deployed reinforcements near Deir Hafer and other towns and told the SDF to evacuate the area between the city and the Euphrates River, about 30 km (18 miles) east of the city, amid a Kurdish-disarmament power struggle.
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In a statement to state television, the Syrian army said it had captured “34 villages and towns” east of Aleppo since it began entering the area on Saturday morning, including major cities. Deir Hafar and Maskana, as well as a military airport.
However, it accused the SDF of violating the agreement and “killing two soldiers” by targeting an army patrol near Maskana.
He also said the exit of “more than 200 SDF fighters and their weapons” had been secured.
Meanwhile, the SDF accused Damascus of violating the agreement, saying “the forces entered the towns of Der Hafer and Maskana before our soldiers fully withdrew, creating an extremely dangerous situation”, according to reports of the clashes.
celebration
Al Jazeera’s Zain Basrawi, reporting from Deir Hafar, says civilians are trying to return to the city.
“We have seen families traveling in the back of pick-up trucks, braving the cold, rainy weather. They are reaching the mud walls that the SDF has set up as roadblocks and checkpoints as part of their positions,” he said.
“We are now seeing bulldozers moving to clear the area, as the Syrian army tries to establish control and check on returnees.”
Basrawi said people were happy to see that the city was under the control of the Syrian army. “Things here are festive,” he said.
After ousting longtime leader Bashar al-Assad in December 2024, Syria’s government is seeking to extend its authority across the country.
The SDF controls Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during the country’s civil war and the decade-long battle against the ISIL (ISIS) group — a war the SDF has fought as a key regional ally of the United States.
Progress on implementing the March agreement to integrate Kurdish de facto autonomous administration and the military’s political and armed institutions into the state has been stalled by disagreements between the two sides, including Kurdish demands for decentralized governance.
On Friday evening, the Syrian army attacked Kurdish positions in Deir Hafar. The SDF announced during the attack that the city was “currently under heavy artillery bombardment”.
Kurdish leader Majlum Abdi, also known as Majlum Kobani, on Saturday morning committed to withdrawing the SDF “for redeployment in areas east of the Euphrates”, based on “calls from allies and mediators”.
Syria’s defense ministry welcomed Abdi’s announcement and said its troops would be deployed after the SDF withdrew.
The Syrian army has urged civilians to flee Der Hafar in recent days, including at least 4,000 people. exceptAccording to Syrian officials.
Millions of Kurds live in Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey, with an estimated one to 1.5 million living in northeastern Syria, controlled by the SDF.
Recognize the rights of the Kurds
The latest advance by the Syrian army comes a day after President Ahmed al-Shar’a Issued A decree, declaring Kurdish a “national language” and an apparent goodwill gesture, granted official recognition to the minority, although Kurds said it fell short of their aspirations.
The Al-Shara’a Declaration was the first formal recognition of Kurdish rights since Syria’s independence in 1946.
The decree states that the Kurds are an “essential and integral part” of Syria, where they have faced decades of marginalization and oppression under former rulers.
He made Kurdish a “national language” that could be taught in public schools where the community was heavily present and granted nationality to all Kurds, 20 percent of whom were stripped of it according to the controversial 1962 census.
The Kurdish administration in Syria’s north and northeast said the decree was “a first step, however, it does not fulfill the aspirations and hopes of the Syrian people”.
“Rights are protected not by temporary decrees, but … by permanent constitutions expressing the will of the people and all elements of society,” a statement said.