Ceasefire quickly unravels after days of clashes between Syrian security
forces and Kurdish fighters
[January 10, 2026]
By OMAR ALBAM and GHAITH ALSAYED
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Syria's Defense Ministry announced a ceasefire
Friday after three days of clashes between government forces and Kurdish
fighters in the northern city of Aleppo that displaced over 140,000
people, but fighting resumed in the evening.
There was no public response from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic
Forces to the ceasefire announcement, while a local Kurdish council
rejected calls for the evacuation of fighters.
The Defense Ministry statement said the ceasefire became effective at 3
a.m. in the three city neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and
Bani Zaid and gave armed groups six hours to leave the area.
It said departing militants would be allowed to carry their “personal
light weapons” and would be provided with an escort to the country's
northeast, which is controlled by the SDF.
Aleppo 's Gov. Azzam al-Gharib toured the contested neighborhoods with
an escort of security forces overnight.
However, in the hours after the announcement no fighters departed. Buses
lined up to evacuate militants remained empty hours after the deadline.
Associated Press journalists at the scene said a burst of machine-gun
fire targeted the location the buses had entered from, and an artillery
shell landed on the road, but calm quickly returned.
A local council representing the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh
neighborhoods issued a statement saying, “We will not accept the
pressures imposed on us and the calls for surrender.”
“We do not trust the Damascus government to entrust our security to us,
and we have decided to remain in our neighborhoods and defend them,” it
said.
Friday evening, the Syrian army announced Sheikh Maqsoud to be a “closed
military zone" and launched what it described as a “clearing operation.”
Tom Barrack, the U.S. envoy to Syria, welcomed the ceasefire
announcement and extended “profound gratitude to all parties — the
Syrian government, the Syrian Democratic Forces, local authorities, and
community leaders — for the restraint and goodwill that made this vital
pause possible.”
Barrack's statement on X said the U.S. was working with the parties to
extend the ceasefire beyond the six-hour deadline.
U.S. President Donald Trump later told Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw that “I
want to see peace" between the two sides.
“The Kurds and the Syrian government — we get along with both, as you
know very well. They have been natural enemies over the years, but we
get along with both," he said.
'A good step'
An estimated 142,000 people have been displaced by the fighting that
broke out Tuesday with exchanges of shelling and drone strikes.
Each side has accused the other of starting the violence and of
deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods and infrastructure,
including ambulance crews and hospitals.
Kurdish forces said at least 12 civilians were killed in the
Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, while government officials reported at
least nine civilians were killed in the surrounding
government-controlled areas in the fighting.
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Members of Syrian government forces stand around buses prepared to
evacuate Kurdish militants, under escort to the country's northeast,
controlled by the SDF, after a ceasefire was announced following
days of clashes in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Friday, Jan.
9, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Dozens more on both sides have been wounded. It was not clear how
many fighters were killed on each side.
Residents of the contested areas were hoping that the ceasefire
would take hold Friday.
Ahmed Hajjar, a tailor in Achrafieh, said the ceasefire announcement
was “a good step” but called for the removal of army checkpoints
around the neighborhood.
“I can’t work now, the workers aren’t able to come, and I can’t send
any products outside,” he said. "If I want to bring in textiles I
get stuck at the checkpoint for an hour and a half or two or three
hours.”
The Syrian military accused the SDF of violating the ceasefire
Friday, saying it "targeted buses three times, shelled army
positions, and attacked soldiers, resulting in the martyrdom of
three soldiers and injuries to more than twelve others."
The SDF-affiliated Internal Security Forces, meanwhile, said
government forces had struck a hospital in Sheikh Maqsoud where
civilians had taken refuge and put it out of service.
SDF links to PKK
The clashes come amid an impasse in political negotiations between
the central state and the SDF.
The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa
had signed a deal in March last year with the SDF, which controls
much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the
end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen.
Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after
the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in
December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that
have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.
The SDF has for years been the main U.S. partner in Syria in
fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the
SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the
Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running
insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.
Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump
administration has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa’s
government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.
Al-Sharaa spoke by phone Friday with Masoud Barzani, head of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party -- the dominant Kurdish party in
neighboring Iraq -- both officials said in statements.
The KDP has friendly relations with Turkey and has historically been
at odds with the SDF and other groups aligned with the PKK, but over
the past year they have taken steps to mend ties.
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