Syrian army tells Kurdish forces to withdraw from area east of Aleppo |
Syria's army told Kurdish forces on Tuesday to withdraw from an area east of Aleppo after deadly clashes in the city last week, as a senior Kurdish official accused Damascus of preparing a new attack.
Syria's Islamist government is seeking to extend its authority across the country, and progress has stalled on integrating the Kurds' de facto autonomous administration and forces into the central government under a deal reached last March.
In Qamishli, the main Kurdish city in the country's northeast, thousands of people demonstrated against the Aleppo violence, with some burning pictures of Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, an AFP correspondent said.
Syrian state television published an army statement with a map declaring a large area east of Aleppo city a "closed military zone" and said "all armed groups in this area must withdraw to east of the Euphrates" River.
The area, controlled by Kurdish forces, extends from near Deir Hafer, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Aleppo, to the Euphrates about 30 kilometres further east, as well as towards the south.
On Monday, Syria accused the US-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of sending reinforcements to........