Clashes Erupt in Aleppo as Deadline Looms for Integration of Kurdish-Led SDF Into Syrian State Forces

Violent exchanges of fire broke out in Aleppo on Monday between the Syrian Arab Army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), leaving several people injured as a deadline to fold the SDF into Syria’s state institutions approaches.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency said SDF fighters attacked positions held by Syrian security forces near the Sheihan and Lairmoun roundabouts. SANA added that the Gaziantep–Aleppo road was closed from the direction of those roundabouts as the SDF targeted the route.

The Syrian Civil Defence reported that two of its rescuers were wounded after the vehicle they were traveling in came under fire, and that two children sustained “various injuries” from gunfire at the Sheihan roundabout.

Syria’s Interior Ministry, in a statement carried by SANA, said two security personnel were wounded in what it described as a “treacherous” SDF attack. The ministry said SDF forces based in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods fired on internal security checkpoints.

High-Level Talks And Regional Pressure

The clashes came as Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan visited Damascus for talks about integrating the SDF into a restructured Syrian army ahead of a looming implementation deadline for a March agreement.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa — who assumed office after the removal of longtime leader Bashar al-Assad last December — signed a March deal with the SDF to incorporate the group into state institutions. However, many details were left vague and progress has stalled.

“We’ve heard reports of heavy gunfire and even shelling,” said Al Jazeera correspondent Ayman Oghanna, reporting from Damascus, calling the high-level Syrian–Turkish meeting “the catalyst” for Monday’s exchanges of fire.

Damascus previously proposed merging roughly 50,000 SDF fighters into three divisions under partial Syrian control. Turkey (Turkiye), which regards the SDF as linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and designates it a terrorist group, has consistently rejected allowing the SDF to enter the Syrian army as a single cohesive formation and has pushed for dismantling the SDF’s existing command structure.

Samy Akil, a non-resident fellow at the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, told Al Jazeera that the integration question is “probably the most combustible factor in Syria today,” warning it could threaten national unity. Akil said both sides face intense pressure — the SDF to implement the deal and give up territorial control, and the Syrian government to reach a diplomatic solution acceptable to Turkey — and that the clashes may have been intended to increase pressure or destabilise talks.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, speaking alongside Fidan, criticised the SDF for what Damascus called systematic procrastination. He said the government had submitted a proposal for the military merger and received a reply that is currently under review.

With the original deadline for implementation set for the end of the year, analysts and officials have warned that failure to reach a clear, mutually acceptable mechanism for integration could lead to further instability or a wider confrontation in Syria.

Sources: SANA, Syrian Civil Defence, Interior Ministry statements, Al Jazeera reporting and interviews.