"I arrived in Aleppo early on Wednesday morning after receiving reports of serious clashes between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). What I encountered was far worse than I expected. Heavy artillery shelling was constant, extreme. My team came under attack four times; one bullet hit our equipment. list of 3 itemsend of list This round of clashes, we quickly understood, would not be easily contained like earlier bouts over the past year."
"The root of the conflict is the government's demand for the SDF, which has tens of thousands of troops, to integrate into state institutions, as per an agreement reached between the two sides last March. But there are numerous disputes over how that should happen, including the number of SDF troops that will join the army. Fighting has centred in heavily populated parts of Aleppo, specifically the districts of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud."
Heavy artillery shelling was constant and teams on the ground came under attack, with at least one bullet striking equipment. The clashes stem from the government's demand that the tens-of-thousands-strong SDF integrate into state institutions under an agreement reached last March, with disputes over implementation and troop numbers. Fighting concentrated in densely populated Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud, areas home to about 400,000 residents. Within 24 hours, approximately 160,000 people fled their homes in an exodus. Streets became scenes of panic, with children screaming, families clinging together, and vulnerable elders collapsing amid the flight.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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