ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) late Friday decided to withdraw from areas in eastern Aleppo where clashes have erupted with Damascus-linked factions, a move carried out in “good faith” to advance the March integration deal, SDF chief Mazloum Abdi announced. 

“In our show of good faith in completing the integration process and adhering to the March 10 agreement, we have decided to withdraw our forces tomorrow morning at 7:00 am from the current contact lines east of Aleppo,” SDF chief Mazloum Abdi said in a statement. 

The forces will be redeployed to “areas east of the Euphrates,” Abdi explained. 

Tensions have surged in northern Syria with the Syrian army and Damascus-affiliated factions seeking to strike the flashpoint town of Deir Hafer in eastern Aleppo, after having driven out Kurdish-led security forces (Asayish) from Aleppo city’s two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods.

The clashes in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods caused hundreds of civilian casualties and displaced more than 155,000.

The implementation of the March agreement was long stalled by continued clashes between the two sides and disagreements on core governing principles, with the Kurdish authorities demanding a decentralized Syria while Damascus maintained its centralized stance.

The Syrian government has been widely criticized for its continuous crackdown on minority communities, with two major operations against the Alawites and Druze in March and July respectively, leading to the death of thousands of civilians.