At least two Kurdish fighters were killed and three others injured during clashes between Kurdish-backed forces and Turkey-aligned factions in northern Syria's Aleppo province on Monday, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR).

The incident took place on the Marea-Harbel axis, where two Kurdish fighters died following an "infiltration operation" by Turkish-backed forces. In the ensuing confrontation, three members of the Turkish-backed factions were injured.

The Afrin Liberation Forces (HRE), a pro-Kurdish group active in the region, regularly conducts operations against Turkish-backed factions that control parts of northern Aleppo. Tensions in the area have escalated in recent weeks, with increasing skirmishes between Kurdish forces and the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and allied militias.

This latest clash follows a separate incident last week in which seven members of the Turkish-backed Faylaq al-Sham militia were wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade, reportedly launched from areas under Kurdish and Syrian regime control.

The Kurdish forces accuse Turkey of exploiting recent clashes between Arab tribes and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in Deir ez-Zor, using the opportunity to launch attacks in strategic locations such as Manbij, a key city in northern Syria.

Turkey views the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a primary component of the SDF, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a group it considers a terrorist organization.