For those trying to get to grips with the dynamics inside Syria more than a year since Bashar Assad fled the country, recent events in Aleppo, the country’s second-largest city, are arguably more instructive than what is happening inside Damascus. This has featured a conflict between government-linked forces and fighters from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces. This was not a full-on war between the Syrian government and the SDF. All sides seem to want to avoid this, for now at least. Hitherto, when government-SDF negotiations are fraught, tensions in Aleppo ratchet up.

BEIRUT: Syria’s Kurds are committed to agreements reached with the government, a senior official from their administration told AFP on Friday, despite days of violence in the…

Analysts say a temporary ceasefire may bring relief, but the complex issues behind the violence must be addressed.