Syria tells civilians to leave Aleppo's Kurdish areas

Syria's military warned civilians in two besieged Kurdish neighbourhoods in the city of Aleppo to leave on Thursday, as it prepared to conduct a fresh wave of strikes targeting Kurdish positions.

Thousands have already fled the area following clashes between the army and Kurdish-led forces that have killed more than a dozen people.

The violence comes as the two sides struggle to implement a March deal to merge a semi-autonomous administration and military run by the Kurds in Syria's north into the country's new Islamist government.

Shops, universities, and schools were closed for a second consecutive day in Aleppo on Thursday, according to AFP correspondents on the ground.

The violence erupted on Tuesday and has left 17 people dead.

On Wednesday, thousands of civilians fled the two Kurdish neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh via two corridors set up by the army, which then went on to shell the areas after an evacuation deadline.

On Thursday, the authorities again announced that civilians would be able to leave before 1:00 p.m. (1000 GMT), with the army warning that it would resume bombardment half an hour after that deadline expired.

AFP