Nine dead in clashes between Syria govt, Kurdish forces in Aleppo

By AFP 6 January 2026, 11:58 pm

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Illustrative: Vehicles carrying Kurdish fighters drive on a road as they leave two neighborhoods in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on April 4, 2025. (SANA / AFP)

Clashes between government troops and Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria’s Aleppo killed at least nine people today, mostly civilians, in one of the worst flare-ups between the sides in months.

The implementation of a March deal to merge the Kurds’ semi-autonomous administration and military into Syria’s new Islamist government has largely stalled.

Tensions have occasionally erupted into clashes, particularly in Aleppo, which has two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods.

Both sides traded blame over who started today’s fighting, which continued into the night and is among the deadliest violence between the government and Kurdish forces since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad more than a year ago. It also adds to concerns about progress on the integration deal.