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3. Syrian Forces Push Out Kurdish Fighters as U.S. Hits ISIS

Syrian government forces have detained 300 Kurds and evacuated more than 400 Kurdish fighters after clashes in Aleppo, the interior ministry has said, as U.S. and allied forces carried out separate “large-scale” strikes against Islamic State targets.

An interior ministry official told Agence France-Presse that about 360 Kurdish fighters and 60 wounded had been bussed to the Kurds’ de facto autonomous zone in the north-east from the Sheikh Maqsoud district, the last area of Aleppo to fall to the army.

A further 300 Kurds, including members of the Kurdish internal security forces, were detained, the official said on Sunday. The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said it had agreed under a ceasefire to withdraw from Aleppo after days of fighting.

The Aleppo clashes, some of the most intense since the regime of the longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad was ousted in December 2024, erupted on Tuesday after negotiations to integrate the Kurds into the country’s new government stalled.

U.S. Strikes ISIS

The U.S. military carried out “large-scale strikes” against multiple ISIS targets in Syria, the Central Command (CENTCOM) forces affirmed on Saturday.

The attacks were carried out as part of Operation Hawkeye Strike, launched and announced on Dec. 19 at the direction of President Donald Trump in direct response to an ISIS assault on U.S. and Syrian forces in Palmyra six days earlier, the military said in a statement. According to US officials, that Dec. 13 attack killed two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter.

“Today’s strikes targeted ISIS throughout Syria as part of our ongoing commitment to root out terrorism against our warfighters, prevent future attacks, and protect American and partner forces in the region,” the military statement said.

There was no information about whether anyone was killed in the strikes. The Pentagon did not deliver more details.