The Syrian government and Kurdish forces agreed to extend a ceasefire on Saturday, according to Syrian diplomatic sources, temporarily staving off a looming war between the two sides in Syria’s northeast. 

Diplomatic sources told AFP the ceasefire would be extended for “a period of up to one month at most,” citing the need to facilitate the transfer of suspected members of the ISIL terror group from Syria to Iraq.

The two sides had earlier announced a temporary ceasefire, halting an offensive by the Syrian government which brought its army to the door of the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The announcement quelled concerns the offensive would restart and gave more space for diplomacy, but did not solve the root of the conflict between the two sides. 

Fighting over three contested neighborhoods in Aleppo in early January led to a sweeping government offensive which saw the SDF lose the majority of its territory in the country in a matter of days.

The US, which has backed the Kurdish force for the past decade, has made its support for Damascus. US envoy for Syria, Tom Barrack, says the role of the SDF as the anti-ISIL force in Syria has now been filled by the Syrian government.