cross-posted from: https://news.abolish.capital/post/18723

Kurdish factions in Aleppo say they fear government troops will massacre civilians if they withdraw, as government troops massacred Alawite civilians in the coastal areas of the country in March

Internal Kurdish security forces in Aleppo have rejected demands to leave the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of the Syrian city after government forces declared a temporary ceasefire overnight on 9 January.

The Ministry of Defense, under the leadership of former Al-Qaeda commander Murhaf Abu Qasra, issued a call for a temporary ceasefire amid ongoing clashes that started with a government assault on the Kurdish districts of Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah on Tuesday.

The ministry demanded that Kurdish fighters leave both neighborhoods by 9 am local time on Friday morning, the time scheduled for the ceasefire to end.

However, the Kurdish councils administering the neighborhoods rejected the demand, saying it was “a call to surrender,” while affirming that Kurdish fighters would instead “defend their neighborhoods.”

“The densely populated Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood in Aleppo is under intense and sustained shelling by factions and militias affiliated with the Damascus government, using tanks, artillery, and heavy weapons in a broad attack targeting residential areas,” a statement from Kurdish officials in Aleppo said.

“Government militias are attempting to advance with tanks, while our forces continue to confront the attacks with fierce and ongoing resistance,” the statement added.

Kurdish fighters fear that if they withdraw, government forces will massacre Kurdish civilians, as they massacred Alawite civilians in the coastal areas of the country in March and Druze civilians in Suwayda governorate in Syria’s south in July.

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