Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, responds to a question from Rudaw on December 22, 2025. Photo: Screengrab/Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The United Nations on Monday urged via Rudaw that “guns be silenced” in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of northern Aleppo, amid reports of deadly clashes between Damascus forces and the Kurdish-led Internal Security Forces (Asayish). The UN also called for talks between the two sides to resume “for the benefit of all Syrians.”
Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, told Rudaw that the UN has seen “very disturbing reports of increased clashes between the government of Syria’s security forces and the [Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces] SDF,” noting that “earlier this year we had seen positive signs of discussions between the government and the SDF.”
Dujarric urged all parties to return to talks “on how to incorporate all of the various armed groups in Syria into the national framework through a Syrian-led process,” adding that “the situation on the ground is fragile in terms of intercommunal dynamics.”
“It is important that the guns be silenced and that discussions continue for the benefit of all Syrians, regardless of their religion or ethnicity,” the top UN official underlined.
The call came shortly after the SDF reported that "the number of wounded had risen to 17 civilians" and that "a 57-year-old woman had died as a result of rocket and tank shelling by Damascus government factions on the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods in Aleppo."
Dujarric's remakrs also followed warnings from the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) that "tanks, military vehicles, and heavy weapons belonging to the Syrian transitional government" had been deployed near the Kurdish-majority quarters amid "intense shelling" of the two neighborhoods and a "worsening humanitarian situation."
SOHR - which relies on a network of local sources inside Syria - also warned that "a complete outage of internet and communication services" had been imposed in Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh, "coinciding with continued shelling and a heightened security alert, amid fears of further deterioration in the coming hours.
Meanwhile, state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported late on Monday that the Damascus army’s General Command had "ordered a halt to the targeting of fire sources belonging to the SDF forces."
It added that the Syrian army had not advanced into new control points in the Kurdish-majority quarters and had “limited its actions to responding to sources of fire.”
The Asayish were quick to reciprocate, releasing a statement on X shortly after that read, "We have issued directives to our forces to cease responding to attacks by the Damascus government factions, in response to the ongoing de-escalation communications."
Clashes erupted earlier in the day in Aleppo’s Kurdish areas between the Kurdish-led Asayish and Damascus forces and aligned factions, leaving several people dead and more than a dozen others injured, with both sides accusing each other of instigating the fighting.
RELATED: Aleppo's Kurdish-majority quarters hit by deadly clashes between Damascus, Kurdish forces
Last updated at 11:10 PM
Namo Abdulla contributed to this report from New York.
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