ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish forces began withdrawing from Aleppo on Friday, as per an agreement struck with Damascus.
“A partial withdrawal of our forces has already been completed; the remaining units will be redeployed in a phased and orderly manner over the coming days,” the People’s Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement.
The first convoy of the YPG, which forms the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), and the Kurdish Women's Protection Units (YPJ) left two Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo under the supervision of the Syrian defense ministry and went east, across the Euphrates River, Syrian state media SANA reported.
The withdrawal is part of an agreement struck on Tuesday with the new authorities in Damascus for SDF-affiliated internal security forces (Asayish) to take over security of two Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo city - Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood - while the other forces leave.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said on Tuesday that the Asayish in Aleppo “will be transformed into public security forces” and will be placed “under the administration of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria.”
The forces that remain in the neighbourhoods will work in coordination with the Ministry of the Interior, according to Bedran Ciya Kurd, an advisor to the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava).
The YPG said they and the YPJ “will continue to adapt our posture in line with the strategic requirements of the new phase.”
The SDF signed a landmark agreement with interim Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on March 10 to integrate the SDF into the Syrian state apparatus. The agreement recognizes the Kurds as an integral part of Syria, includes a countrywide ceasefire, and stipulates the return of displaced Syrians to their hometowns.
Updated at 10:34 pm.
