ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Northeast Syria's (Rojava) Kurdish-led administration on Sunday decried a recent armed campaign by Syrian state forces in Aleppo's Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, claiming that the attacks aimed to bring about "demographic change" and were an "extension" of the massacres against Syria's Druze and Alawites in prior months, accusing Islamic State (ISIS) militants of participating in Damascus' offensive.

After six days of constant clashes between Damascus-affiliated groups and Kurdish-led internal security (Asayish) in Aleppo, in an operation by the former to drive the latter out of the neighborhood, a partial ceasefire was reached between the two sides on Saturday. The altercations saw several recorded casualties on both sides.

In a statement on Sunday, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) blamed Damascus-linked factions for the attack "as part of a Turkish plan and with undisclosed support from international and regional powers."

"This attack represents a new chapter in the series of targeting the Kurdish presence as an integral component of the city of Aleppo, and it comes as an extension of the grave violations and massacres that have affected the residents of the Syrian coast and the people of the Suwayda governorate," the statement added, referencing 2025 clashes between Syrian state forces and members of the country's Alawite and Druze minorities respectively.

The perceived targeting of ethnic and religious minority components by a Damascus government often deemed chauvanistic and centralizing has been a notable factor in hindering the integration of the Kurdish-led administration into the Syrian state as outlined in a March 10 agreement, with this reluctance having been used as a casus belli for Syrian forces accusing Rojava of harboring separatist ambitions.

The Rojava administration said that the six-day escalation was an attack by "states," and thousands of armed men, including "elements from ISIS" against two neighborhoods against mere hundreds of internal security.

In the early hours of Sunday, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced reaching “an understanding that leads to a ceasefire” in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods. Syrian state media reported that all Kurdish-led forces had evacuated the area.

‎‏”With the mediation of international parties to stop the attacks and violations against our people in Aleppo, we have reached an understanding that leads to a ceasefire and ensuring the evacuation of martyrs, wounded, trapped civilians, and fighters from Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods to north and east Syria,” read a statement from SDF chief Mazloum Abdi.

At least 38 Damascus-affiliated fighters, one Asayish member, and 43 civilians were killed, and over 115 others injured in nearly a week of fighting, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

"A regime that claims to uphold Islam, yet practices the mutilation of corpses, insults community components, and commits clear war crimes," the Rojava administration said that the seizure of the neighborhoods "cannot be described as a victory" by Damascus, calling on international, human rights, and humanitarian organizations to monitor the situation in the two neighborhoods, "as our people continue to face brutal assaults."

"We also demand the presence of an international force in the two neighborhoods to prevent further crimes, as there is a complete lack of trust in the state’s security forces, which are led by individuals with extremist and ISIS-like ideologies," the AANES statement continued.

The conflict led to the displacement of around 155,000 people from their homes, according to figures from Aleppo authorities.

The SDF's ceasefire statement followed an earlier announcement by the local councils of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, where they declared a “partial ceasefire” in the two neighborhoods to facilitate “the evacuation of the wounded, women, and children” from the Khalid Fajr hospital.

The Khalid Fajr hospital has borne the brunt of the conflict, having been subjected to repeated attacks using "machine guns and drones," according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), which warned of a "potential humanitarian catastrophe" as citizens trapped in the hospital plead for help.

The Kurdish-led Asayish said in a statement later that the hospital had been evacuated in light of the ceasefire, noting that "our forces will continue to fight without hesitation to protect the free will of our people and our dignity." "Our forces will continue their struggle by all means available," the Kurdish-led internal security said.