Dec 22 (Reuters) – At least two civilians were killed and several wounded in a wave of attacks in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday, with government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces trading blame for the deaths.
State news agency SANA, citing Aleppo’s health directorate, said the civilians were killed in shelling by the SDF on residential neighbourhoods in the city.
The violence came hours after Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said during a visit to Damascus that the SDF appeared to have no intention of honouring a commitment to integrate into the state’s armed forces by an agreed year-end deadline.
Turkey views the U.S.-backed SDF, which controls swathes of northeastern Syria, as a terrorist organisation and has warned of military action if the group does not honour the agreement.
SANA, citing the defence ministry, reported earlier that the SDF had launched a sudden attack on security forces and the army in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah neighbourhoods of Aleppo, resulting in injuries.
The SDF denied this and said the attack was carried out by factions affiliated with the Syrian government, and which resulted in the injury of five civilians.
The defence ministry denied the SDF’s statements, saying the army was responding to sources of fire from Kurdish forces.
(Reporting by Menna Alaa El-Din and Jaidaa Taha and Kinda Makieh; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
