ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on Sunday said that they continue efforts toward a deescalation with the Damascus government,while urging the public to support the fighters amid ongoing clashes.

Clashes have raged on between the Syrian Arab Army and the SDF since Saturday in flashpoint areas held by the Kurdish-led forces on the banks of the Euphrates River, despite Abdi announcing a day earlier that their forces would withdraw from eastern Aleppo in accordance with an internationally-brokered agreement and their commitment to the integration process.

“Despite all our attempts and efforts to stop the escalation and work towards de-escalation, the attacks are still ongoing,” Abdi told Hawar News Agency (ANHA).

The Kurdish-led administration in north and east Syria (Rojava) on Saturday said the area faces the risk of “an existential war,” calling on all categories of people to arm themselves, citing the Damascus-affiliated forces’ continued violation of deescalation agreements.

“We announce to our people that our efforts to achieve de-escalation and a ceasefire are ongoing with the assistance of international parties. Therefore, we call upon our people to rally around their sons, our fighters, and to demonstrate courage and faith,” the SDF chief added.

Tensions have escalated between Kurdish-led forces and Damascus-affiliated factions in Syria since the start of the year. A conflict in Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods earlier in January saw hundreds of civilians killed and over 150,000 displaced.

The SDF-affiliated Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that a phone call between Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa took place on Sunday, where the pair discussed a potential ceasefire.

SDF media head Farhad Shami told affiliated media on Sunday that over 100,000 “mercenaries” linked with the Syrian government are attacking SDF-held areas, stressing: “it is essential that our people remain vigilant.”

The SDF, Rojava’s de facto army, has been a key ally of the West in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), playing an essential role in the terror group’s territorial defeat in Syria in 2019.