Syrian government forces have taken control of a number of towns and villages in the Aleppo region after Kurdish-led militant commanders announced they would withdraw from the region.
Army troops captured the town of Mascana on Saturday and were continuing to advance, the military said.
There have been several clashes between the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian army since the Islamist-led government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa came to power just a year ago.
Mr Shaller has vowed to unify the country after 14 years of civil war, but Kurds want guarantees of autonomy.
SDF commander Mazloum Abdi promised on Friday that troops would begin withdrawing from positions in east Aleppo on Saturday as part of a broader settlement agreed in principle last March.
“Based on calls from friendly countries and mediators, and as a sign of our goodwill to complete the integration process and adhere to the terms of the March 10 agreement, we have decided to withdraw our troops and redeploy them to the region east of the Euphrates River,” Abdi said.
A section of the winding river south of the Turkish border now serves as the de facto border between the two countries.
The Kurdish withdrawal followed a visit to the region by a delegation from the U.S.-led United Nations, which maintains a presence in northern Syria.
Syrian troops moved into the town of Deir Haver, about 50 kilometers east of Aleppo, on Saturday, according to location-based video.
“Thank God we escaped with minimal losses,” one resident, Hussein al-Kharaf, told Reuters. “There’s enough blood in this country…We’ve sacrificed enough and lost enough. People are tired of it.”
However, fighting continued in some areas on Saturday. The SDF said it was engaged in violent clashes with government forces in the al-Thawra oil field area south of Tabqa, which it claimed was “outside the scope of the agreement.”
The military has taken control of al-Thawra and another oil field in the area, state news agency SANA said.
The SDF accused Syrian government forces of entering the town before the fighters had completed their withdrawal, saying it was a violation of the agreement. The newspaper said some fighters were under siege in Deir Haver “as a result of the betrayal of the Damascus government.”
This time, the Syrian army accused Kurdish fighters of opening fire on a Syrian military patrol near Maskana, killing two soldiers.
The Syrian army also accused Kurdish forces of planting explosives on a bridge on the eastern road to Raqqa, which is still under Kurdish control.
“Blowing up the bridge will destroy the agreement and have very serious consequences,” the Syrian army said in a statement on Saturday.
Kurdish-led authorities in Arab-majority Raqqa later declared a curfew in the area.
Violence has escalated despite a decree issued by Al Shara on Friday guaranteeing the legal status and cultural rights of Syrian Kurdish citizens.
The Syrian president’s office provided CNN with a document that promises full citizenship rights to Kurds, whose descendants as well as thousands of others have been denied documentation for 60 years. The decree also recognizes Kurdish as a “national language” and allows it to be taught in public and private schools in areas where Kurds make up a significant proportion of the population.
It remains an open question whether the executive order and the withdrawal of the Self-Defense Forces will lead to a broader agreement and an end to the frequent clashes.
Analysts say the SDF’s withdrawal from areas east of Aleppo appears to be motivated by a desire to avoid a potentially losing battle. Kurdish forces were forced out of several districts within Aleppo earlier this month.
Kurdish-led authorities established a semi-autonomous government in much of northern and eastern Syria during the civil war, but have resisted full integration into the Islamist-led government that took power after former President Bashar al-Assad was ousted in late 2024.
Damascus last year reached an agreement with the SDF that envisages the full integration of Kurdish fighters into the new Syrian army by the end of 2025, but progress has been limited, with each side accusing the other.
Tom Barrack, the US special envoy for the region, has been involved in efforts to conclude an agreement between the government and the SDF.
