Civilians fled Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Aleppo on Jan. 7 after the Syrian army declared them "closed military zones" and began shelling the areas. Some 300 homes are reported destroyed in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsud [7] and Ashrafiyeh, which have long been under the control of the Kurdish Asayish [8] militia force. The Asayish and the interim government's army blamed each other for initiating the clashes. Thousands have fled through "humanitarian crossings" the army has established for residents to evacuate.
But the fighting appears to spreading into the Kurdish heartland. The town of Deir Hafer, east of Aleppo, is also coming under shelling from government forces. The town is held by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF [7]), main military wing of the Kurdish-led autonomous administration [9] that controls much of the country's east.
With several casualties in both Aleppo and Deir Hafer, the clashes mark the deadliest outbreak of fighting since an agreement last March to merge the SDF and autonomous administration into Syria's new government. The deal has still not been implemented, with both sides at odds [10] over the terms. (Rudaw [13], Rudaw [14], France24 [15])
In a grim irony, this comes exactly a decade after the peak of the massive bombardment [16] of Aleppo by the Assad regime.
