SYRIAN government forces entered two northern towns on Saturday morning after the command of Kurdish-led fighters said that it would evacuate from the area, in an apparent move to avoid conflict.

Two soldiers were killed and others wounded in a clash as they entered the town of Maskana, state media reported. 

Clashes were reported in other parts of northern Syria as government forces pushed east.

Meanwhile, troops made their way into the town of Deir Hafer. The two towns changed hands after deadly fighting erupted earlier this month between government troops and the US-backed and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city.

It ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters from three neighbourhoods taken over by government forces.

The Syrian military said its forces were in full control of Deir Hafer, captured the Jarrah air base to the east, and were in the process of clearing mines and explosives. 

A resident of Deir Hafer, Mohammed al-Jaber, said: “The Syrian Arab Army came here and liberated us from this terrorist organisation.”

For years, the SDF has been the main US partner in Syria in the fight against the Islamic State group, but Ankara considers the SDF a terrorist organisation because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkey.