Today’s clashes, in which nine people died, were the worst between the two sides, which have so far failed to implement a March agreement to merge the semi-autonomous Kurdish administration and army into a new Syrian government.
– At night, Aleppo was a ghost town, there was no movement, shops were closed, and many streets were dark without electricity – said Abdul Karim Baqi (50) to AFP. Baqi, who lives in one of two Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo, fled the fighting and sought refuge in a relative’s house.
Syria’s official news agency SANA reported shelling from Kurdish settlements on government-held areas on Wednesday, adding that Syrian troops returned fire.
Abdul Karim Omar, a representative of the Kurdish autonomous administration in Damascus, told AFP that “there are efforts to de-escalate”. Omar said the Kurdish-majority Aleppo neighborhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsud were “completely surrounded” and denied any shells had been fired from the areas, claiming they were controlled by the Kurdish domestic security forces Asayish “who only have light weapons”.
On Tuesday, civil aviation authorities announced the “suspension of flights to and from Aleppo airport for 24 hours and their diversion to Damascus airport” due to the violence, SANA reported.
Schools, universities and government offices are also closed. Nine people, mostly civilians, were killed in Tuesday’s clashes, with both sides exchanging accusations over who started the fighting.
(Vijesti.ba / FENA)
