Syria's Defense Ministry and YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) ordered their troops to cease fire on Dec. 22 after clashes between the two sides in the northern city of Aleppo killed at least three people.
State news agency SANA cited the Defense Ministry as saying that the Syrian army's general staff had issued "an order to stop targeting the sources of fire.”
The SDG, meanwhile, said they had "issued directives to our forces to cease responding to attacks.”
At least three people were killed in the clashes, which came ahead of a deadline for implementing a March 10 agreement to integrate the SDF, which controls vast swathes of Syria's oil-rich northeast, into the state.
The two sides had earlier traded blame over who started the clashes.
The neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh have remained under the SDF’s control, despite the disengagement agreement reached in April with Syria's authorities.
Damascus said SDF forces attacked government personnel at joint checkpoints in the two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods.
The SDF instead accused "factions affiliated with the interim government" of carrying out an attack on a checkpoint.
In October, Syria announced a comprehensive ceasefire with Kurdish forces following deadly clashes in the districts.
Under the March deal between Damascus and the SDF, the Kurds' civil and military institutions should be integrated into the central government by year end, but differences have held up the deal's implementation despite international pressure.
In Damascus, the Syrian capital, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said his talks with Syrian officials focused on the integration of the SDF into the new Syrian army, as well as on Israel’s military incursions in southern Syria and the fight against the ISIL terrorist organization.n
“Syria’s stability means Türkiye’s stability. This is extremely important for us,” he said. He called on the SDF to “cease to be an obstacle to Syria achieving stability, unity and prosperity.”
