Reuters. Tens of families were seen taking shelter at a mosque in Aleppo on Wednesday (January 7), after leaving the Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah neighbourhoods amid clashes between Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and government forces.
Fierce fighting resumed in Syria's northern city of Aleppo between government forces and Kurdish fighters for a second day on Wednesday, sending thousands of civilians fleeing and leaving at least four people dead.
The violence, began on Tuesday (January 6), when at least 12 people were killed, including two women and a child, in an exchange of shelling between Syrian government troops and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
The government opened humanitarian corridors for civilians to flee flashpoint neighbourhoods, ferrying them out on city buses. A source from the government's civil defence rescue force said an estimated 10,000 people had fled.
The latest fighting has disrupted civilian life in a leading Syrian city, closing the airport and a highway to Turkey, halting operations at factories in an industrial zone and paralysing major roads into the city centre.
Last year, the Damascus government reached a deal with the SDF that planned for a full integration by the end of 2025, but the two sides have made little progress, each accusing the other of stalling or acting in bad faith.
