Syrian government forces clash with Kurdish-led fighters in eastern Aleppo province

Don’t miss the full story, whose reporting from Ghaith Alsayed at The Associated Press is the basis of this artificial-intelligence-assisted article.

​Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces exchanged fire in eastern Aleppo province on Tuesday, marking a possible new escalation following recent clashes in Syria’s second-largest city.

Some key facts:

• Syrian government forces and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces exchanged fire on Tuesday in eastern Aleppo province with no casualties immediately reported.

• The Syrian army declared an area east of Aleppo a “closed military zone” due to alleged SDF mobilization and drone attacks.

• Clashes in Aleppo last week displaced tens of thousands of people before ending over the weekend with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.

• Damascus now has full control of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods, where the clashes occurred.

• Syrian officials accused the SDF of building up forces near Maskana and Deir Hafer, about 60 kilometers east of Aleppo city.

• A drone struck the Aleppo governorate building on Saturday shortly after two Cabinet ministers and a local official held a news conference.

• A March deal between Damascus and the SDF calls for the Kurdish-led group to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025, but disagreements remain over implementation.

• The tensions come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central government under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and the Kurdish-led forces.

READ MORE: Syrian army and Kurds exchange strikes in area near Aleppo declared closed military zone