US envoy welcomes pause in hostilities in contested region although it is unclear whether deal will hold
Syria’s government has announced a ceasefire after three days of clashes with Kurdish fighters in Aleppo, which has led to more than 140,000 people being displaced.
The pause in the fighting, which was the most intense in the country for more than six months, came into effect at 3am local time (midnight GMT). Under the terms of the ceasefire, Kurdish militants were to leave the three contested neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Bani Zaid, where clashes were happening. They would be provided safe passage to the north-east of the country, which is controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and be allowed to take light arms with them.
Whether the deal would hold remained unclear, as the SDF has yet to announce its agreement to the truce and similar ceasefires have collapsed in the past. According to Reuters, the Asayish, the internal security forces of the SDF, denied that its forces had requested safe passage and had asked that Damascus withdraw its soldiers instead.
A resident of Aleppo said the fighting appeared to cease overnight and footage from within the contested neighbourhoods showed that gunfire, which was constant over the last few days, had stopped. Members of the government security forces posted videos showing clearing operations being conducted in some of the neighbourhoods, as well as videos of underground tunnels being inspected that the SDF have used to transport fighters and weapons beneath Aleppo.
