The first convoy of the YPG/PKK-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from Aleppo on Friday under the supervision of the Syrian Defense Ministry, Syria’s state-run SANA reported.
According to the report, the convoy began its withdrawal from the northern city of Aleppo towards the eastern Euphrates region, with the Syrian Arab Army securing the route from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods.
On Thursday, Aleppo witnessed a prisoner exchange between internal security forces and the SDF, marking the beginning of “prison clearing,” with approximately 250 prisoners released.
On March 10, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement for the integration of the SDF into state institutions, reaffirming the country’s territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.
Bashar Assad, Syria’s leader for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia on Dec. 8, ending the Baath Party’s regime, which had been in power since 1963.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, who led anti-regime forces to oust Assad, was declared president for a transitional period on Jan. 29.
In its nearly 40-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK, listed as a terror organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 victims, including women, children, and infants. The YPG/PYD, which also uses the name SDF, is the PKK’s Syrian offshoot.
PKK terrorists often hide out in northern Iraq to plot cross-border attacks in Türkiye, while the YPG/PYD has tried to establish a terror corridor in northern Syria along Türkiye’s borders.