DAMASCUS — The Syrian Army’s Operations Command announced Saturday a halt to all military operations inside the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo following an escalation with the YPG/SDF group.

In statements carried by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the Operations Command said all military activity in Sheikh Maqsoud would cease starting at 3 p.m. local time (1200 GMT).

The command said militants from the Syrian Democratic Forces entrenched inside Yassin Hospital would be transferred to the city of Tabqah, with their weapons withdrawn.

It added that the army would begin handing over all health and government facilities in the neighborhood to state institutions and would gradually withdraw from the streets of Sheikh Maqsoud. — Agencies