Conflict between Syria’s interim government and SDF comes to the fore with renewed clashes in Aleppo
The events have once again exposed the Al-Sharaa administration’s abortive attempts to bend the Kurdish-led group to its will.
An injured man is carried off after fierce fighting between Syrian government forces and SDF. Photo: SANA
Less than one year after the Syrian interim government announced that it had reached an agreement to integrate Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) into the state’s institutions, infighting between the two parties re-erupted in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, January 6.
The director of Media at the Aleppo Health Directorate stated on Thursday, January 8, that at least nine people were killed and dozens others wounded as clashes between the SDF and the Syrian government forces continue. The Syrian authorities also reported the displacement of 140,000 people as a result of the unrest, which officials described as the fiercest confrontations between the two sides since they reached the integration agreement in March 2025.
The Syrian Ministry of Defense accused the SDF of implanting roadside bombs, and booby-trapping public and private properties in Aleppo. Turkish state-run news agencies TRT World and Anadolu Ajansı described the group as “terrorists”.
The rhetoric used by the Al-Sharaa and Erdogan administrations foreshadow a prospective large-scale military campaign, which will be potentially launched on the pretext of counter-terrorism.
Analysts also assume the possible involvement of the US, in a scenario similar to the recent US campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in Syria.
Such military campaigns would pave the way for the long-term presence of the US troops and the Turkish forces in the Arab country, which may, in turn, further expand Washington’s and Ankara’s regional hegemony.
On Thursday, January 8, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan added a new allegation against the SDF, accusing them of undermining Syria’s unity in coordination with Israel.
“In Syria, it is time for national unity. The SDF needs to do its part,” Fidan said during a press conference with his Omani counterpart in the Turkish capital.
“Instead, its transformation into an actor that serves Israel’s ‘divide and rule’ policy in our region, in coordination with Israel, is unfortunately not a coincidence,” he noted.
