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When a Kurdish delegation led by Mazlum Kobane, the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces, met on Jan. 4 with Syrian Defense Minister Murhaf Abu Qasra in Damascus for the latest round of US-brokered integration talks, it was clear that something was amiss. Two days later, fierce clashes erupted between government forces and Kurdish militants in two of Aleppo's Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, in some of the worst violence between the sides since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.

The SDF says Syria’s transitional government initiated the attacks that have displaced more than 140,000 people and left at least eight civilians dead and dozens injured, according to Syrian officials quoted by Reuters. The SDF put the number of civilian deaths resulting from attacks by government-allied forces at nine.

A truce that came into effect at 3:00 a.m. local time on Friday is looking increasingly shaky as armed Kurdish groups vowed to defend their neighborhoods and refused to board buses provided by the government for their evacuation to the Kurdish-controlled northeast of the country.