Syria conquered the rest of Aleppo from the Kurds
Executive summary
The recent fighting in Aleppo ended with Syrian government forces taking control of the last Kurdish-held neighbourhoods—most notably Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh—and buses evacuating the final SDF fighters after a mediated ceasefire, marking the removal of Kurdish fighters from pockets of Aleppo they had held since 2011 [1] [2] [3]. The SDF evacuated fighters and wounded to northeastern Syria while reports say hundreds of Kurdish detainees were taken and thousands of civilians were displaced, though the Kurdish administration retains a semi-autonomous zone across much of northeastern Syria [4] [2] [5].
1. The military outcome: pockets cleared, fighters evacuated
State and international reporting shows Syrian security forces entered and declared control of the Kurdish-majority Sheikh Maqsoud area after days of clashes, and the last SDF fighters left Aleppo under a ceasefire that allowed evacuations to the northeast—buses were seen leaving and officials reported departures to Raqqa and other SDF-held areas [1] [2] [3]. Reuters and Al Jazeera describe the evacuation as the removal of the last SDF presence in the city, a tactical change that means the government now holds those formerly Kurdish pockets inside Aleppo city limits [1] [2].
2. What “conquered the rest of Aleppo” means in practice
The phrase implies full, unconditional government reassertion over all territory previously contested by Kurds in Aleppo city; reporting documents the army’s seizure of the final Kurdish neighbourhoods and the departure of fighters, but does not claim a wholesale erasure of Kurdish political power in Syria—SDF control remains extensive across northeastern Syria, where an autonomous administration continues to operate [1] [2] [4]. In short, Damascus has cleared Kurdish pockets in Aleppo city itself, but did so via a ceasefire and evacuation rather than through a total annexation of Kurdish governance across Syria [3] [4].
3. Human cost and forcible dynamics: displacement, detention, and competing narratives
Reports document significant civilian displacement—tens or hundreds of thousands according to some outlets—and at least dozens killed and many wounded in the clashes, while Syrian interior ministry statements and other reporting say hundreds of Kurdish fighters were evacuated and several hundred people detained, a claim mirrored by multiple outlets though details and independent verification remain limited [6] [4] [5]. Kurdish sources and local councils framed government demands as calls to surrender and accused Damascus of heavy shelling and targeting civilian infrastructure, while government sources labelled Kurdish positions legitimate military targets, illustrating sharply divergent narratives on whether the operation was counterinsurgency or forced displacement [7] [8] [9].
4. Wider political context: stalled integration talks and Syrian unity rhetoric
The clashes erupted after negotiations to integrate the SDF into state institutions stalled; Damascus has insisted on centralised control while the SDF has resisted, making Aleppo a flashpoint in a broader political struggle over whether Kurdish forces will be absorbed into a unified Syrian army or remain semi-autonomous—observers see the fighting as part of President Ahmad al-Sharaa’s effort to consolidate authority after the 2024 transition [7] [8] [2]. International mediation, including reported U.S. engagement, helped secure the evacuation, reflecting outside powers’ interest in limiting escalation and protecting anti-IS partnerships [3] [2].
5. What reporting does not prove and remaining uncertainties
Open-source reporting establishes that government forces cleared the last Kurdish-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo and the SDF withdrew, but it cannot fully resolve contested claims about the scale of detentions, the voluntariness of evacuations, or the long-term fate of displaced civilians; independent verification on the ground remains limited in the sources reviewed, and Kurdish and Syrian state accounts contradict each other on key points such as whether hospitals were struck or used as military sites [4] [9] [10].
6. Bottom line: tactical victory for Damascus, strategic Kurdish resilience
Factually, Syrian government forces reclaimed the remaining Kurdish-held districts of Aleppo city and SDF fighters left under a ceasefire—so Damascus “conquered” those pockets—but the Kurds were not eradicated from the country: the SDF retains a sizeable semi-autonomous zone in the northeast and political conflict over integration continues, meaning the Aleppo outcome is a significant local government victory without resolving the broader Kurdish question in Syria [1] [2] [4].