The Syrian army announced on Monday the arrival of additional armed groups at the deployment points of the SDF near Maskanah and Deir Hafer in the eastern countryside of Aleppo.

In a statement to SANA, the army said: “According to our intelligence sources, these new reinforcements include a number of fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and remnants of the former regime. We are studying the field situation and evaluating it directly and immediately.”

The Operations Directorate of the Syrian Arab Army confirmed that “the transfer of terrorist groups by the SDF represents a serious escalation, and any military movement by these groups will be met with a severe response. We will not stand idly by in the face of this dangerous escalation.”


After days of intense clashes and heightened security tensions, the last batch of SDF elements left the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo city for northeastern Syria between Saturday night and Sunday, ending the group’s military presence inside the city, according to official Syrian sources.

A source in the Interior Ministry told Agence France-Presse on Sunday that Syrian authorities evacuated about 400 Kurdish fighters from Aleppo to northeastern Syria and arrested more than 300 others.

Citizens in the Ashrafiyeh neighborhood (AFP).

Clashes erupted on Tuesday in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, displacing 155,000 people from the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods, according to authorities.

Walls in the neighborhood were blackened by fire, while women moved through the rain between burnt-out cars, carrying children - some clutching blankets and bags - as they returned to homes they had fled because of the fighting.

As Syrian security forces deployed at the main entrance to the neighborhood, some returnees inspected their homes, finding doors broken and windows shattered by gunfire.