ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Damascus on Tuesday announced reaching an immediate ceasefire with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), following armed confrontation between government forces and Kurdish-led internal security forces (Asayish) in Aleppo the day before.

Syrian Defense Minister Marhaf Abu Qasra said the Damascus government has agreed with SDF chief Mazloum Abdi on “a comprehensive ceasefire across all fronts and military deployment points in northern and northeastern Syria,” noting that “the implementation of this agreement will begin immediately.”

The decision comes following a meeting in Damascus between high-level delegations from the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava), led by Abdi, and the Syrian government, headed by President Ahmed al-Sharaa.

The meeting was set to discuss “political and security files within the framework of the March 10 agreement,” according to the Rojava-affiliated Hawar News Agency (ANHA).

The Rojava delegation included Ilham Ahmed, co-chair of the Foreign Relations Department, as well as Rohilat Afrin, commander-in-chief of the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), according to Salih Muslim, a senior member of Rojava’s ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD).

The meeting took place after Monday’s clashes between the Asayish and Damascus forces in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud, following a crackdown on demonstrators protesting the government’s unexplained closure of all roads leading to the area.

Muslim told The New Region that two people were killed and around 60 others were injured as a result of the attacks, marking the largest escalation yet between forces of Sharaa’s government and the Kurds.

According to Syrian state media, one Syrian security force member was killed and three others were wounded in the clashes, in addition to one civilian killed and several others injured.

The exact casualty toll on both sides has not yet been released to the public.

The attacks came hours after a meeting between Abdi and US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack and US Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Admiral Brad Cooper. Reports suggest that Barrack and Cooper were also a part of Tuesday’s meeting.

Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are under the control of local forces affiliated with Rojava, while government forces control the entrances and exits.

On March 10, Sharaa and Abdi signed an agreement that would see the group and its institutions in northeast Syria integrate with the Syrian state.

The implementation of the agreement has stalled as the SDF and Damascus-affiliated forces have clashed repeatedly in recent months, with both sides accusing the other of provocations and attacks.

The interim Syrian government has been widely criticized for its handling of anti-government movements in Druze and Alawite majority parts of the country, in which thousands of civilians were killed.