A second day of violent clashes between the Syrian military and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the city of Aleppo is threatening to escalate to full-blown conflict, with civilian deaths reported by both sides.

Syrian government forces backed by tanks and other heavy weapons began shelling the Kurdish-majority Aleppo neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh on Wednesday after a deadline for civilians to evacuate the area expired. The Syrian government said the areas had become “legitimate military targets” after three civilians including two women were killed in the al-Midan neighborhood on Tuesday by shelling that it blamed on the SDF. 

In a statement, the SDF denied responsibility for the shelling and said that “factions affiliated with the Damascus government” were behind the attacks, which “began with the Ministry of Defense targeting civilians with suicide drones." These attacks by government forces and allied Sunni factions, it said, resulted in injuries to three civilians and the deaths of seven others.

The SDF added that the ministry had deployed “massive numbers” of tanks and armored vehicles — 80 in total — in the area “with the aim of storming the two neighborhoods.” The ministry’s demands for the evacuation of all civilians were intended to enable its forces to storm the enclaves that remain under siege, the SDF said.