ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Syrian defense ministry early Friday announced that a ceasefire has been reached with Kurdish-led forces in Aleppo following days of heavy clashes, with the US welcoming the pause in hostilities and asserting that they are "working intensively" to extend the truce.

Clashes between Damascus-affiliated and Kurdish-led security forces (Asayish) have wracked Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in recent days, with tens of people having been killed so far. 

"Out of complete concern for the safety of our civilian people in the city of Aleppo, and to prevent any slide towards a new military escalation within residential neighborhoods, the Ministry of Defense announces a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyeh, and Bani Zeid neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, effective from 03:00 after midnight," the Syrian defense ministry announced in a statement.

The deadline for the Kurdish-led forces to withdraw from the aforementioned areas expires at 9 am local time on Friday, the ministry continued.

The Syrian military said it would escort them safely to areas in northeastern Syria, with internal security forces coordinating the withdrawal.

The Asayish and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have yet to make a public statement on the matter.

US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack hailed the halting of hostilities, thanking "the Syrian government, the Syrian Democratic Forces, local authorities, and community leaders... for the restraint and goodwill that made this vital pause possible."

"We are working intensively to extend this ceasefire and spirit of understanding beyond this morning’s 9 o’clock deadline," Barrack wrote on X.

Barrack on Thursday termed the implementation of the March 10 integration agreement, signed by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF Commander Mazloum Abdi, that would see the Kurdish-led adminsitration in northeast Syria (Rojava) brought under the auspices of Damascus as "eminently achievable."

The failure to implement the agreement thus far has been a significant cassus belli for Syria state forces, who have accused the Kurdish-led forces of harboring a separatised agenda. The SDF and other apparatuses of the administration, meanwhile, maintain serious reservations regarding Damascus' centralizing drive and its treatment of the country's ethnic and religious minorities.