Nine dead in clashes between Syria govt, Kurdish forces in AleppoListen to this articleFlights have been suspended for 24 hours at Aleppo's international airport, seen in March 2025, due to the clashesDAMASCUS - Clashes between government troops and Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria's Aleppo killed at least nine people on Tuesday, mostly civilians, in one of the worst flare-ups between the sides in months. Both sides traded blame over who started Tuesday's fighting, which continued into the night and is among the deadliest violence between the government and Kurdish forces since the toppling of Bashar al-Assad more than a year ago. On Tuesday morning, the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces said factions affiliated with the government "targeted the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood". A close ally of the new authorities, Turkey shares a 900-kilometre (550-mile) border with Syria and has launched successive offensives to push Kurdish forces from its frontier. On Sunday, SDF chief Mazloum Abdi held further talks with officials in Damascus on integrating the Kurdish-led forces, but state media reported no tangible results.

Source: Bangkok Post January 07, 2026 01:05 UTC