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Aleppo Gov. Engineer Azzam al-Gharib said at a press conference on Saturday, addressing the latest developments in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, that the SDF “did not implement the April 1 agreement” to withdraw its forces from the two areas and instead used them as a “launchpad” to target army and internal security positions, as well as nearby neighborhoods.
Information Minister Hamza al-Mustafa and Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Kabawat also attended the press conference.
The April 1 agreement was a local understanding specific to Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, aimed at regulating the security situation and defusing tensions.
In practice, it stipulated the withdrawal of SDF forces from the two areas and the removal or handover of heavy weapons, in return for the Interior Ministry and Internal Security Forces assuming responsibility for maintaining security and managing the main checkpoints.
Gharib added that the SDF’s “violations have been repeated many times,” and that the state “showed restraint and called for de-escalation to protect people’s lives.” But he accused the group of “escalating attacks on Aleppo’s neighborhoods,” which, he said, killed six civilians and wounded more than 70 others, “most of them women and children.”
Gharib said what he described as the SDF’s “crimes” prompted the Syrian Arab Army to “take the appropriate measures to restore security” in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, adding that “as soon as the army finished its sweep operations, state service institutions began entering these neighborhoods in coordination with the army.”
On displacement, Gharib said the governorate received 155,000 displaced people from the two neighborhoods, adding that the “Aleppo Central Response Committee” was formed, bringing together the directorates of health, social affairs and labor, and international cooperation to “secure residents’ needs.”
He concluded by saying Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh saw a “major decline in services” in recent months, stressing that “after security is restored,” the relevant authorities will work to “improve their infrastructure.”
For his part, Mustafa said during the same conference that Internal Security Forces carried out a “precise security operation” to protect civilians in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, explaining that the April 1 agreement stipulated the removal of heavy weapons belonging to the SDF from the two areas.
Mustafa added that “what comes after the events in Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud will be different from what came before,” stressing that the state “preferred political and negotiating solutions over any other options,” and that “the Syrian state is not weak, but it prefers paths that avoid conflict.”
He also emphasized that “the Syrian people deserve a government that invests in their development,” adding that “Syria’s sovereignty, its people, and its independence are non-negotiable.”
The Syrian Army’s Operations Command announced on Saturday a halt to all military operations inside the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo following escalation with the YPG-led SDF terrorist group.
In statements carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), the Operations Command said: "We announce the halt of all military operations inside the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo starting at 3 p.m. (12 p.m. GMT)."
It added that "SDF militants entrenched inside Yassin Hospital will be transferred toward the city of Tabqah, with their weapons withdrawn."
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