The SDF Has Fully Withdrawn From Aleppo, Syria, After Its Clashes With The Government Killed Over 24 People
Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib told Al Jazeera early on Sunday that Aleppo has become “empty of SDF fighters,” with government forces escorting the last SDF fighters out of the city on buses.
Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have fully withdrawn from Aleppo, Syria, after days of deadly clashes with the Syrian government forces killed more than 24 people and displaced more than 150,000 others.
The SDF is a Kurdish-dominated, US-backed group that controls significant parts of northeastern Syria, including Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo, primarily Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods
After toppling former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, interim president Ahmed Al-Sharaa signed in March 2025 an agreement with the head of SDF, Mazloum Abdi, to integrate the SDF into all of the Syrian state’s military and civilian entities.
The deal was due to be implemented by the end of 2025, but the government said the SDF has been stalling.
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, clashes erupted between the government forces and the SDF as both sides blamed each other for starting the clashes.
The SDF reportedly launched a drone attack on Tuesday, targeting army positions around Sheikh Maqsoud, killing one soldier.
Syrian forces then responded by launching strikes targeting SDF drone launch sites in Sheikh Maqsoud, SANA reported.
The clashes escalated, with attacks targeting residential areas in Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud and shelling reaching a hospital.
Aleppo authorities suspended school, government operations and all flights at Aleppo’s airport.
Authorities announced on Wednesday, Jan. 7, a complete curfew in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh areas, starting 3 pm local time, creating two safe humanitarian corridors for people to evacuate the area.
Over 150,000 people were forced to flee their homes and more than 24 people were killed in the fighting, with 129 others injured.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, Abdi said that the group had reached a ceasefire agreement with the government, including an end to fighting and the safe evacuation of civilians and fighters from the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods to northern and eastern Syria.
Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib told Al Jazeera early on Sunday that Aleppo has become “empty of SDF fighters,” with government forces escorting the last SDF fighters out of the city on buses.
Cherry Mohamed
