Syrian government forces now control all of Aleppo after taking Kurdish neighbourhoods, evacuating fighters and arresting hundreds following deadly clashes
ALEPPO: Syria’s government assumed full control of Aleppo on Sunday after seizing the city’s Kurdish neighbourhoods.
The takeover followed days of deadly clashes that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters to autonomous areas in the northeast.
Residents of the Ashrafiyeh neighbourhood began returning to inspect damaged homes and streets littered with shrapnel and broken glass.
Violence erupted after negotiations stalled on integrating the Kurds’ autonomous administration into the country’s new government.
A Syrian security official said 419 Kurdish fighters, including 59 wounded, were transferred from the Sheikh Maqsud neighbourhood to the Kurdish-controlled northeast zone.
Hundreds gathered in Qamishli to meet the arriving fighters with tears and vows of vengeance.
“We will avenge Sheikh Maqsud… we will avenge our fighters, we will avenge our martyrs,” said Umm Dalil, 55.
Kurdish leader Mazlum Abdi said the combatants were evacuated “through the mediation of international parties to stop the attacks and violations against our people in Aleppo”.
The Syrian official stated that 300 other Kurds, including fighters and security force members, had been arrested.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 300 “young Kurds” described as civilians had been detained.
In Ashrafiyeh, residents returned to homes with damaged walls and looted belongings after being searched by security forces.
“When we returned, we found holes in the walls and our homes had been looted,” said clothing seller Yahya al-Sufi, 49.
Some residents expressed hope for calm and unity between Damascus and Kurdish factions.
“We didn’t want things to get this bad. I wish the Kurdish leadership had responded to the Syrian state,” said Mohammed Bitar, 39.
Sheikh Maqsud remained off-limits to residents on Sunday, with an AFP correspondent observing burnt vehicles and landmines in the area.
Syrian authorities reported a toll of 24 dead and 129 wounded since last Tuesday from the fighting.
The Observatory reported 45 civilians and 60 soldiers and fighters killed from both sides.
It also reported “field executions” and burning of fighters’ bodies by government forces in Sheikh Maqsud, claims AFP could not independently verify.
US envoy Tom Barrack met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Saturday and called for a “return to dialogue” with the Kurds.
Abdi called on “the mediators to abide by their promises to stop the violations”.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces control swathes of the country’s oil-rich north and northeast.
Neighbouring Turkey views the SDF’s main component as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party.
A March integration agreement between Damascus and the Kurds meant to be implemented last year stalled over differences including demands for decentralised rule.
