A picture taken on February 20, 2018 shows a convoy of pro-Syrian government fighters arriving in Syria's northern region of Afrin. (AFP photo)
DAMASCUS, Feb. 22 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian government forces started entering Kurdish-controlled neighborhoods in the northern part of Aleppo city in northern Syria on Thursday, a monitor group said.
The government forces will set up checkpoints and hoist the official Syrian flag in Sheikh Maksud, Bustan al-Basha, Enzarat, Halak, Sakan al-Shababi, Haydarieh, Shqaif and Bani Zaid, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The UK-based watchdog group said the new development comes after the Syrian government side sent pro-government Syrian fighters to aid the Kurdish fighters in defending the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin in the northern countryside of Aleppo against the Turkey-led military campaign.
No more details were made public but the entry of Syrian forces to the Kurdish-controlled neighborhoods in Aleppo seems to be part of a deal between the Kurdish forces and the Syrian army.
The Syrian army defeated the rebels in Aleppo city in December of 2016. The Kurdish fighters also liberated some neighborhoods in the city and assumed control over them until now.