ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The French foreign ministry on Saturday expressed its regret for the resumption of hostilities in Syria's Aleppo, calling on Damascus to keep its pledges to protect civilians and to allow Kurdish forces to withdraw from the city in a "dignified" manner.

Clashes between Damascus-affiliated forces 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 and hundreds of others displaced.

The Syrian government has demanded that the Asayish forces withdraw east of the Euphrates River to northeast Syria (Rojava), a call which the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) has welcomed should it be carried out with the backing of "mediating international forces," most saliently the US and France.

"France supports proposals aimed at ensuring the protection of all civilians in Aleppo, as the Syrian government has pledged to do, and at allowing a dignified withdrawal of the fighters," read a Saturday statement from the French foreign ministry on the matter.

"It will continue to work with its partners, primarily the United States, to achieve the return of security and stability to Aleppo, within the framework of a united, sovereign and pluralistic Syria," it concluded.

Meanwhile, US Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on Saturday shared an account of a meeting he held with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, during which the pair discussed the happenings in Aleppo.

Barrack shared an English translation of the Jordanian foreign ministry statement which asserted that the pair affirmed their "commitment to supporting efforts aimed at consolidating the ceasefire, ensuring the peaceful withdrawal of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) from Aleppo, and guaranteeing the security and protection of all civilians."

The SDF have denied any involvement in the conflict, insisting that they withdrew from Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh under the provisions of an April 1 agreement and handed over control to the Asayish.

Canada on Saturday called on "the Syrian transitional government and the Syrian Democratic Forces to take steps to urgently de-escalate, uphold their obligations to protect civilians, and pursue dialogue to avert further violence."

The Syrian military announced the same day that its forces had completed a full sweep of Sheikh Maqsoud, a claim that was denied by Kurdish-led forces, with reports on the ground suggesting that skirmishes remain ongoing.

Tensions in Aleppo are inextricably linked to the lack of implementation of a March 10 agreement between SDF chief Mazloum Abdi and Syria’s Sharaa. The agreement would see the Kurdish-led forces and institutions in Rojava brought under the auspices of the Syrian state, but its implementation has stalled over the past year due to sporadic clashes between the two sides.

The failure to implement the agreement has empowered the Syrian state forces to conduct frequent attacks, accusing the Kurdish-led forces of harboring a separatist 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.