Syria declares ceasefire after violent clashes

Syria’s minister of defense announced a ceasefire Tuesday after overnight clashes between security forces and Kurdish fighters in neighborhoods of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

- BY OMAR ALBAM

PEOPLE pass a checkpoint as they leave their neighborhoods in Aleppo, Syria.

(OMAR ALBAM Associated Press)

Murhaf Abu Qasra said in a statement that he had met with Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, in Damascus and “agreed on a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military positions in northern and northeastern Syria.”

“The implementation of this agreement will begin immediately,” he said.

The overnight violence came as tensions have grown between the central government in Damascus and Kurdish authorities in northeast Syria.

Syrian state-run news agency SANA reported the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces targeted checkpoints of the Internal Security Forces on Monday evening, killing one and wounding four.

SDF forces fired into residential areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo “with mortar shells and heavy machine guns,” SANA reported, adding there were civilian casualties, but didn’t share figures.