The number of civilian casualties in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo—both predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods—has risen to seven dead, in addition to dozens wounded, concurrent with the interim authority’s announcement on the morning of 7 January 2026 of the launch of a military attack on those neighborhoods.
The “Syrian Army” affiliated with the interim authority announced, in a statement issued on the same morning, that “all military positions of the SDF organization within the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo have become legitimate military targets,” according to what was reported by the official state news channel. The Operations Authority within the “Army” also announced that the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods were designated a “closed military zone after 3:00,” calling on civilians to “stay away from SDF organization positions.”
Concurrent with the shelling that targeted residential neighborhoods, the areas of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh witnessed displacement of civilian , amid the destruction inflicted on homes and the urban infrastructure as a result of indiscriminate shelling attributed to the forces of the interim authority.
On 6 January 2026, forces of the interim authority had targeted inhabited residential neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, leading to human losses among civilians. Circulating video recordings showed militants affiliated with the interim authority firing rockets toward what they described as “SDF gatherings,” while other footage documented the movement of tanks and heavy military vehicles toward the surroundings of the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods.
Conversely, media outlets affiliated with the interim authority reported that the shelling was carried out by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and targeted neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, resulting in killed and wounded.
This escalation comes within the context of rising military tension in the city of Aleppo, amid growing fears of the continued targeting of residential neighborhoods and the consequent increase in civilian casualties and worsening humanitarian conditions.
This shelling also comes within the context of a tightened siege imposed by the forces of the interim authority on the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods since September 2025, marked by repeated military attacks and violations affecting civilian residents and the basic means of their livelihood. The siege included preventing the entry of essential materials, particularly fuel and construction materials, the imposition of checkpoints and strict inspection measures, and restrictions on residents’ movement to the rest of the neighborhoods of the city of Aleppo, negatively impacting humanitarian and service conditions, especially in the fields of education and heating.
In this context, the “Education Committee” in the two neighborhoods issued a decision on 30 December 2025 to close all schools—13 schools in total—affiliated with the Autonomous Administration and the joint schools, due to the lack of heating resulting from the siege. Arrest incidents were also recorded in the vicinity of the two neighborhoods.
Additionally, the forces of the interim authority, represented by “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” launched a wide-scale attack on the two neighborhoods on the night of 26 December 2025 using heavy machine guns and artillery, concurrent with the deployment of tanks and military vehicles to the perimeter of the area.
On 22 December 2025, similar attacks using heavy weapons and mortar shells were carried out, resulting in the killing of the citizen Fadwa Mohammad al-Kurdi and the injury of 19 other civilians, including women and children, amid violent clashes in the vicinity of the two neighborhoods. This was accompanied by the circulation of video recordings containing inciting calls and hate speech, in addition to the broadcast of footage showing armed men directing artillery toward residential neighborhoods.
These incidents fall within an ongoing pattern of violations affecting the fundamental rights of civilians in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, foremost among them the right to life and security, freedom of movement, access to basic needs, and education, amid the continued siege and military attacks on inhabited residential areas.
Human Rights Monitor Platform in Syria