The Syrian government on Saturday said its troops have taken control of several key towns near the northern city of Aleppo from Kurdish-led forces under a withdrawal agreement that each side accused the other of violating.

Syrian authorities on Monday appointed Aleppo Deputy Governor Abdulrahman Salameh as a new governor of Raqqa province in northern Syria following a ceasefire and integration agreement between the government and the SDF group.

The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) emerged during the Syrian civil war as a multi-ethnic system of governance, representing Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Armenians, Assyrians, Yazidis and others.

The Syrian army launched new strikes in parts of Aleppo on Thursday after ordering residents to evacuate, accusing the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) of using Kurdish-majority areas to launch attacks as clashes entered a third day.

A trickle of civilians left a contested area east of Aleppo on Thursday after a warning by the Syrian military to evacuate ahead of an anticipated government military offensive against Kurdish-led forces.

Syria’s military has announced it will open a “humanitarian corridor” for civilians to evacuate from an area in Aleppo province.

More than 150,000 people fled two Kurdish-held pockets of the city in the five days of fighting that saw almost two dozen people killed.