The clashes erupted during a visit by Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, raising fresh doubts about the prospects for stability in Syria’s fractured north.
Syria’s state news agency SANA, citing the defense ministry, reported that the army’s general command had ordered its forces to cease targeting SDF fighters following the deadly violence.
Separately, the SDF issued a statement later on Monday saying it had instructed its units to stop responding to attacks by Syrian government forces after de-escalation contacts.
The limited ceasefire came against a bleak backdrop.
Fidan, whose country brands the SDF a terrorist organization linked to the outlawed PKK, delivered a grim assessment earlier on Monday.
He said the SDF appeared to have no intention of honoring its pledge to integrate into Syria’s state armed forces by the agreed year-end deadline.
The agreement to pause hostilities offers only a temporary reprieve in a region long marked by mistrust, competing foreign interests and repeated breakdowns of previous understandings.
The rivalry between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led SDF runs deep, rooted in conflicting visions for Syria’s future and sharpened by years of territorial disputes and foreign backing.
Damascus views the SDF’s control over vast swathes of the northeast as an unacceptable fragmentation of state sovereignty, while the Kurds see the central government’s advances as a threat to their hard-won autonomy and security.
Mutual suspicion, aggravated by Turkey’s hostility toward the SDF, has repeatedly turned local friction into deadly clashes, making any lasting reconciliation appear increasingly out of reach.