Tom Barrack Pushes Longer Aleppo Truce After Ceasefire

U.S. envoy Tom Barrack said Washington is working to extend a short Aleppo ceasefire after Syria’s Defense Ministry ordered armed groups to withdraw from Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh and Bani Zaid under escort to the country’s northeast.Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib toured the contested districts overnight, as about 142,000 people were displaced and there was no immediate public response from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).The truce follows days of shelling, drone strikes and street fighting that killed at least 21 civilians and deepened a political impasse over a March 2025 plan under Ahmad al-Sharaa for the SDF to merge with the Syrian army, amid pressure from Turkey and concern voiced by Israel.