Jan 6 (Reuters) – At least three people were killed and several others wounded in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo, state news agency SANA said on Tuesday, citing Aleppo’s health director, after deadly attacks for which Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces traded blame.
Syria’s defence ministry said in a statement that the SDF had continued its “escalation” by targeting army positions and residential areas in Aleppo.
The SDF denied its responsibility, saying that the casualties were caused by “indiscriminate” artillery and missile shelling by factions aligned with the Damascus government.
The violence came days after a meeting between senior officials from the SDF and the Damascus government on implementing a deal agreed nearly 10 months ago that aimed to fully integrate the semi-autonomous Kurdish region into the central Syrian government.
The agreement was meant to be implemented by the end of 2025 but the two sides have made little progress, each accusing the other of stalling or acting in bad faith.
The SDF is reluctant to give up autonomy it won as the main U.S. ally during the war, which left it with control of Islamic State prisons and rich oil resources.
Integrating the SDF into Syria’s army would mend Syria’s deepest remaining fracture, but failing to do so risks an armed clash that could derail the country’s emergence from 14 years of war and potentially draw in Turkey, which has threatened an incursion against Kurdish fighters it views as terrorists.
As progress falters, several rounds of fighting have broken out. On December 22, Syrian government forces and SDF agreed to de-escalate in the northern city of Aleppo, after a wave of attacks that left at least two civilians dead and several wounded.
(Reporting by Muhammad Al Gebaly and Menna Alaa El Din)
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