The Syrian Army declared on Friday (January 9) that it would start attacking again a neighborhood in Aleppo controlled by the Kurds, since the Kurdish fighters did not comply with the retreat order. This operation shattered the already fragile ceasefire agreement that was intended to bring an end to the battle, which had lasted for several days. The government and Kurdish forces seemed to have a mutual accusation to blame each other for the flare-ups in the second-largest city of Syria during the past week.
The fighting highlights the challenges the regime and the Kurds have in making an agreement that would dissolve the latter's political and military entities and integrate the Kurds into the new central government of the country. A year has passed since that time when the Islamist-led authorities replaced the longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad, and the country has hardly managed to get rid of the war; the fighting has become another critical test. It is estimated that at least 21 people died and thousands of people lost their homes during the chaos that had gripped Aleppo, which is the worst unrest the city has seen in years.
