Kurdish groups rejected a Syrian government demand for their fighters to withdraw from parts of Aleppo under a ceasefire proposed on Friday, with Damascus conducting new strikes and Western powers urging an end to days of clashes.

Army urges civilians ‘to remain in their homes and not go outside, due to SDF and PKK terrorist elements hiding among them’ - Anadolu Ajansı

Minister of Information Hamza al-Mustafa affirmed that the security measures taken by the Syrian state in the Ashrafieh and Sheikh

Kurdish forces said on Friday that the densely populated Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood in Aleppo had come under heavy shelling, despite earlier efforts to de-escalate fighting that has gripped the area for days.

The Syrian Army “has completed combing more than 90% of Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood,” during operations against the YPG/SDF terror organization, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported Saturday, citing military sources.

The UN has raised serious concerns ahead of Uganda’s elections scheduled for 15 January, warning they will take place in an environment marked by widespread repression, intimidation and shrinking civic space.