This photo taken with a mobile phone shows civilians leaving areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo city, northern Syria, on Jan. 7, 2026. Crowds of residents were forced to flee the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, as clashes flared between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). As clashes intensified, Syrian authorities on Wednesday declared Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh closed military zones, imposed curfews, and opened designated humanitarian corridors for evacuation. Civil defense teams provided first aid and transport to shelters. (Str/Xinhua)
DAMASCUS, Jan. 7 (Xinhua) -- Crowds of residents were forced to flee the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, as clashes flared between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Streets filled with families hastily carrying belongings, pushing strollers, and holding children, as they moved in silence and fear past checkpoints and armored vehicles.
According to Syria's Civil Defense, more than 2,324 civilians had been evacuated by 2:40 p.m. local time (1140 GMT), most of them from Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh.
The latest displacement follows days of rising tensions in Aleppo, marked by drone attacks, shelling, and sniper fire exchanged between Syrian government forces and SDF-linked units. Syrian authorities accused the SDF of launching drone strikes and indiscriminate bombing on residential areas and security targets, causing civilian and military casualties.
The SDF, in turn, blamed factions loyal to the interim government in Damascus for heavy bombardment of populated districts, accusing them of endangering civilians.
The tensions between Syria's new transitional government and SDF arise from fundamental disagreements over governance. The Kurdish-led SDF, which holds the northeast, seeks a decentralized or federal system to preserve its autonomous administration. The transitional government, however, insists on a fully centralized state, viewing SDF demands as separatist and a threat to Syria's unity.
As clashes intensified, Syrian authorities on Wednesday declared Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh closed military zones, imposed curfews, and opened designated humanitarian corridors for evacuation. Civil defense teams provided first aid and transport to shelters.
Mohammad Nattour, a man in his 60s displaced from Sheikh Maqsoud, told Xinhua that residents were told to leave as tensions escalated.
"They informed us that we had to get out because there were clashes," he said. "My home is on the front edge of the neighborhood, so I had to leave. We feel fear and terror."
Nearby, gunfire echoed as families fled. Medhat Yassin, displaced from Ashrafieh, was speaking when new shots rang out, prompting his wife to urge him to leave immediately.
"Shelling and rockets are falling here and there, gunfire in the streets and alleys," he told Xinhua, raising his voice over the noise. "There is strong gunfire in the neighborhood."
In a city where control can shift from one block to the next, many feel they are being forced to choose between two sides that both view them with suspicion.
"Yesterday, I went to work and had to sleep in the city center because the roads were cut," said one man who had returned only to whisk his family away. "Now I am just trying to get them out. We don't know when, or if, we can come back." ■
This photo taken with a mobile phone shows civilians leaving areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo city, northern Syria, on Jan. 7, 2026. Crowds of residents were forced to flee the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, as clashes flared between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
As clashes intensified, Syrian authorities on Wednesday declared Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh closed military zones, imposed curfews, and opened designated humanitarian corridors for evacuation. Civil defense teams provided first aid and transport to shelters. (Str/Xinhua)
This photo taken with a mobile phone shows civilians leaving areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo city, northern Syria, on Jan. 7, 2026. Crowds of residents were forced to flee the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, as clashes flared between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
As clashes intensified, Syrian authorities on Wednesday declared Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh closed military zones, imposed curfews, and opened designated humanitarian corridors for evacuation. Civil defense teams provided first aid and transport to shelters. (Str/Xinhua)
This photo taken with a mobile phone shows civilians leaving areas in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo city, northern Syria, on Jan. 7, 2026. Crowds of residents were forced to flee the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the northern city of Aleppo on Wednesday, as clashes flared between the Syrian army and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
As clashes intensified, Syrian authorities on Wednesday declared Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh closed military zones, imposed curfews, and opened designated humanitarian corridors for evacuation. Civil defense teams provided first aid and transport to shelters. (Str/Xinhua)
