Fighting continues for 3rd day as thousands more flee Kurdish areas

The Syrian army launched new strikes in parts of Aleppo on Thursday after ordering residents to evacuate, accusing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of using Kurdish-majority areas to launch attacks as clashes entered a third day.

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The army released more than seven maps identifying areas it said would be targeted in strikes, urging residents to leave immediately for their safety. Its operations command announced a curfew in the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh from 3pm (1200 GMT).

The fighting, which erupted on Tuesday, has driven thousands of civilians from their homes and killed and wounded several people.

“Today, up to this moment, almost 13,500 people left. Most of the cases we saw were of women, children and people with special needs, and some patients were evacuated to the hospital and some were given medical care in ambulances,” said Faisal Ali, head of operations for the Syrian civil defence forces in Aleppo.

The SDF said their fighters were engaged in intense clashes with Damascus-aligned factions and auxiliaries near Aleppo's Syriac neighbourhood, adding that they had inflicted what they described as heavy losses.

The violence and competing claims over responsibility highlight a deepening and increasingly deadly standoff between Damascus and Kurdish authorities who have resisted integrating into the central government.