Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in Aleppo, northern Syria, are seeing a gradual return of displaced residents, days after the end of a military operation launched by government forces against the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Mamoun al-Khatib, head of the Media Affairs Directorate at the Aleppo Governorate, told Enab Baladi that the last shelter centers for people displaced from Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud closed in Aleppo on Wednesday, January 14.
Al-Khatib added that the remaining centers in Afrin and Azaz (northern Aleppo countryside) are in the process of closing.
For its part, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a report issued today that access to Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud is gradually improving, but remains limited due to ongoing clearance of explosive remnants.
OCHA reported that nearly 120,000 people remain displaced as a result of the recent clashes in Aleppo city. It also noted that about 29,000 people have returned to their homes so far, citing what it described as UN partners working in the humanitarian sector.
Public services are also gradually resuming, including the restoration of water supplies for around three million people after the Babiri water station was brought back online, according to OCHA.
At the same time, OCHA said schools will remain closed for an additional 15 days, and flights to and from Aleppo International Airport are still suspended.
The agency added that the UN and its humanitarian partners on the ground continue to provide assistance, including shelter, health, nutrition, and food support, while closely monitoring population movements.
OCHA said the UN and its partners stand ready to adjust and scale up the response as needed, as what it described as a “volatile security environment” continues.
How did the situation develop?
Since mid-last week, Aleppo has witnessed fast-moving developments on the ground that ended with the Syrian army taking control of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, and the departure of SDF-linked forces from the two neighborhoods.
These developments ended a longstanding arrangement imposed by the SDF in the two areas since Syria’s uprising began. For years, Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh represented a distinct model in local governance, resource provision, and the management of security and services through institutions affiliated with the SDF, separate from Bashar al-Assad’s state institutions. This situation persisted even about a year after Assad’s government fell.
Clashes began on January 6 after a series of mutual accusations between the Syrian government and the Asayish. Each side blamed the other for shelling residential areas and for violating the de-escalation agreement in place between them that morning.
The developments culminated in the Syrian army announcing at dawn on January 8 that it had entered Ashrafieh and taken full control of it, along with the Bani Zeid neighborhood.
Following the army’s advance, a new field reality emerged, with SDF forces concentrated in Sheikh Maqsoud. The Syrian army later announced an agreement to relocate SDF members in the neighborhood to northeastern Syria, with their light weapons.
However, the deal stalled, according to a military source who spoke to Enab Baladi, due to internal disagreements within the SDF and additional conditions it introduced, including demands to relocate security detainees and remove its vehicles. This prevented implementation of the agreement. The source also said there was gunfire at buses that were meant to be used to evacuate the fighters on January 9.
In response, the Syrian army announced that, after all deadlines granted to the SDF inside Sheikh Maqsoud had expired, it began a clearance operation in the neighborhood. It said that once operations ended, it would hand the area over to security forces and state institutions to begin operating directly.
On the morning of January 10, the Syrian army announced it had taken full control of Sheikh Maqsoud, ending the SDF’s presence in the two neighborhoods.
Damascus closes Aleppo file, eyes shift east
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