The outbreak of clashes between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has highlighted the political and security challenges the country continues to face more than a year after the fall of former President Bashar al-Assad.The fighting in Aleppo, which has killed at least 22 people this week, brought to the forefront fundamental tensions between Damascus and the SDF – both of which are backed by the United States.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of listThe SDF and the Syrian government had signed an agreement to integrate the Syrian-dominated forces into a state institution in March of last year. But little progress has been made on that front, and the sporadic violence between the two sides turned into intense fighting this week.A truce to halt the clashes was announced on Friday, but it appears to be already unravelling. Analysts warn that without a comprehensive resolution to the tensions, more fighting is all but inevitable.While it appears that there is no domestic or international appetite for an all-out war in Syria, experts say that with the merger of the SDF – which controls large parts of northeast Syria – into the state stalled, the threat of renewed violence persists.“I don’t think there’s a lot of international interest in major fighting at the moment, especially from the US side — so that could help tamp things down,” said Aron Lund, a fellow at Century International.“It’s far from over, however. All the …
