DAMASCUS, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Recent escalation in northeastern Syria has forced tens of thousands of people from their homes, with the number of displaced in Hasakah province jumping from about 5,700 to more than 146,000 in just one week, the United Nations said on Tuesday.
The displacement followed reported ceasefire violations that have raised fears of renewed fighting between Syria's interim authority and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said.
Citing an International Organization for Migration (IOM) report, OCHA said families were fleeing mainly to Raqqa and Deir al-Zour, with most sheltering in overcrowded collective sites.
Conditions are dire, the agency said, with nearly all those displaced in need of urgent cash assistance and basic supplies. More than 60 percent require food, while almost half lack access to essential health care and medicines.
The IOM said a ceasefire in Aleppo province announced on Jan. 18 has largely held, allowing about 81 percent of people displaced by earlier fighting to return home. At the height of the clashes in early January, around 138,000 people had fled.
Many returnees still face serious risks, including unexploded ordnance and damaged infrastructure, and continue to need food and financial aid, the agency said. The IOM called for sustained humanitarian access, warning that limited basic services and shifting security conditions continue to endanger lives across the region.
In mid-January 2026, pro-Damascus forces launched a major offensive, seizing several neighbourhoods in Aleppo and advancing into Raqqa and Deir al-Zour. A Jan. 18 agreement called for the SDF to integrate into a unified national army, but ceasefire violations have been frequent, particularly in Hasakah province. ■
