Schools and public institutions were closed on Wednesday in northern Syria’s Aleppo as sporadic clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led groups entered a second day, according to state media.

The fighting, which began Tuesday and killed nine people, marked the most serious violence in the city between the two sides in years. They have yet to implement a March agreement aimed at integrating the Kurds’ semi-autonomous administration and military forces into Syria’s new Islamist-led government.

“At night, Aleppo was a ghost town, no movement, shops closed, and many streets dark with no electricity,” said Abdul Karim Baqi, 50, speaking to Agence France-Presse.

Baqi, who lives in one of Aleppo’s two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, said he fled the violence and sought shelter at a relative’s home.

Syria’s state news agency SANA reported Wednesday that shelling from Kurdish-controlled neighborhoods struck government-held areas, prompting Syrian troops to return fire.

Abdul Karim Omar, the Kurdish autonomous administration’s representative in Damascus, said efforts were underway to de-escalate the situation.

Omar told AFP that the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsud were “completely besieged” and denied that shells were fired from those areas. He said the neighborhoods are controlled by the Kurdish Asayish internal security forces, which he said possess only light weapons.

On Tuesday, civil aviation authorities announced a 24-hour suspension of flights to and from Aleppo International Airport, with flights diverted to Damascus due to the violence, SANA reported.

Authorities also ordered the closure of schools, universities, and government offices across the city.

The clashes killed nine people, most of them civilians, with both sides blaming the other for triggering the fighting.

“The violence reminded us of the war,” said Joud Serjian, a 53-year-old housewife living in Aleppo’s Syriac Quarter.

Serjian, whose neighborhood lies near Ashrafieh, said residents had little choice but to remain in their homes. “We have nowhere else to go,” she said.

Aleppo was a major battleground during Syria’s civil war, enduring years of heavy fighting before former President Bashar al-Assad’s forces regained control of the city in 2016.

Assad was later ousted in a rapid Islamist-led offensive in 2024.

The March agreement between Syria’s new authorities and Kurdish leaders was meant to be implemented by the end of 2025. Kurdish officials have pushed for decentralized governance, a demand rejected by Syria’s current leadership.