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ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — Syrian authorities warned civilians to leave a contested area in the northern city of Aleppo Thursday and opened a corridor for them to evacuate for a second day as clashes continued between government and Kurdish forces.

The government of Aleppo province gave residents until 1 p.m. local time to evacuate in coordination with the army. State news agency SANA, citing the army, said the military would begin “targeted operations” against the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid half an hour after that deadline.

An Associated Press journalist at the scene heard sporadic sounds of shelling as civilians streamed out of the area Thursday morning. As of Wednesday, more than 46,000 people had been displaced across the province, according to Aleppo’s Directorate of Social Affairs and Labor.

The SDF has said that at least eight civilians were killed in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, while government officials reported at least five civilians and one soldier have been killed in the surrounding government-controlled areas in the fighting that broke out Tuesday. Dozens more on both sides have been wounded.

Each side has accused the other of deliberately targeting civilian neighborhoods and infrastructure.

The clashes come amid an impasse in political negotiations between the central state and the SDF.

The leadership in Damascus under interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa signed a deal in March with the SDF, which controls much of the northeast, for it to merge with the Syrian army by the end of 2025. There have been disagreements on how it would happen. In April, scores of SDF fighters left Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh as part of the deal.

Officials from the central government and SDF met again on Sunday in Damascus, but government officials said that no tangible progress had been made.

Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The SDF has for years been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which has waged a long-running insurgency in Turkey. A peace process is now underway.

Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration in the U.S. has also developed close ties with al-Sharaa’s government and has pushed the Kurds to implement the March deal.

The U.S. has not issued a statement on the Aleppo clashes, seeming to suggest that Washington wants to keep a distance.

Turkey’s Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that the “operation is being carried out entirely by the Syrian Army” while Turkey is “closely monitoring.”

“Syria’s security is our security,” the statement said, adding that “Turkey will provide the necessary support should Syria request it.”

The United Nations has expressed concern at the violence.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric told reporters Wednesday that Secretary General Antonio Guterres “is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries following hostilities in Aleppo.”

“We call on all actors to immediately de-escalate, exercise maximum restraint, and take all measures to prevent further harm to civilians” and to “promptly resume negotiations in order to fully implement the 10 March agreement,” he said.

Residents flee the Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods after clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Syrian government soldiers sit on their armoured personnel carrier (APC) following clashes with Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A car burns during clashes between Kurdish fighters and Syrian government forces in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

An aerial view shows Syrian residents in vehicles, queueing to flee from Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh neighborhoods after clashes broke out on Tuesday between Syrian government forces and Kurdish fighters in a contested area of the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)