Residents walk in a street of Aleppo, Syria, after Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) agreed on Monday night to defuse the situation following a wave of attacks that left at least two dead and several wounded among civilians, on Dec. 23, 2025. (Credit: Karam al-Masri/Reuters)
The timing of deadly clashes that broke out on the evening of Monday, Dec. 22, in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo — held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are predominantly Kurdish — seems anything but coincidental. The violence erupted just hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking from Damascus, accused the SDF of refusing to honor their commitment to integrate into the state's armed forces before the end of the year. And while a cease-fire went into effect during the night, ending the fighting, the spark could reignite at any moment. Some analysis IS attack on US soldiers puts Damascus to the test In recent hours, both sides have traded blame for the spike in violence. While the official Syrian news agency SANA claimed two civilians were killed and eight others injured in...
The timing of deadly clashes that broke out on the evening of Monday, Dec. 22, in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo — held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), which are predominantly Kurdish — seems anything but coincidental. The violence erupted just hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, speaking from Damascus, accused the SDF of refusing to honor their commitment to integrate into the state's armed forces before the end of the year. And while a cease-fire went into effect during the night, ending the fighting, the spark could reignite at any moment. Some analysis IS attack on US soldiers puts Damascus to the test In recent hours, both sides have traded blame for the spike in violence. While the official Syrian news agency SANA claimed two civilians were killed and eight others injured...
