Syrians flee Kurdish-controlled area near Aleppo ahead of army deadline

ALEPPO (Syria): Syrians began fleeing an area east of Aleppo city on Thursday after the army gave civilians a deadline to leave amid fears of an escalation in clashes with Kurdish forces.

The government is seeking to extend its authority across the country following the ouster of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad a year ago.

It reached a deal in March to fold a Kurdish de facto autonomous administration in the north into the state, but progress on its implementation has stalled, with fighting occasionally flaring up between the two sides.

An AFP correspondent near Deir Hafer, one of the Kurdish-controlled towns near Aleppo being eyed by Damascus, saw a small number of families leaving through a corridor set up by the army on Thursday, but the route was due to close at 5pm (1400 GMT).

The area targeted extends from near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Aleppo, to the Euphrates River about 30 kilometres further east, as well as towards the south.

Damascus, which has deployed forces to the region in the past few days, accused Kurdish forces of barring the civilians from leaving on Thursday.

Farhad Shami, spokesperson for the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed, Kurdish-led collection of armed groups, told AFP the government’s accusations were “unfounded”.

The SDF controls swathes of Syria’s oil-rich north and northeast, much of which it captured during the country’s civil war and the fight against the Islamic State group over the past decade.

The government took full control of Aleppo city over the weekend after capturing its Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh neighbourhoods.

Both sides have traded blame over who started the violence, which left scores dead, according to a monitor.

In a statement on Thursday, the Kurdish-led autonomous administration said they remained open to dialogue with Damascus and called on the international community to prevent a new civil war in Syria.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said “the ball is in (the SDF’s) court”, calling on them to “join hands with us... and begin the reconstruction process in Syria”, in excerpts broadcast by Syrian state television of an unaired interview with Iraqi Kurdish channel Al Shams.

“The agreement signed by Mazlum Abdi does not include federalism, self-administration... it includes a unified Syria,” he said, referring to the SDF leader.

The Kurds have called for decentralisation and federalism under their integration into the Syrian state, but Sharaa has rejected their demand. According to Sharaa, the Kurds control “nearly 25 percent of Syria”, but the inhabitants of these lands are mostly “Arab tribes”, with Kurds constituting “12 to 15 percent” of the population.