Aleppo's Kurdish-majority quarters face humanitarian challenges amid continued siege: Rojava officials

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo continue to face severe humanitarian challenges as they remain under siege imposed by Damascus and affiliated forces, local officials said on Sunday.

“The Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo remain under siege," Foza Alyusuf, a member of the leadership board of northeast Syria’s (Rojava) ruling Democratic Union Party (PYD), warned in a post on X, adding that "tens of thousands of children are suffering from the cold as a result of factions affiliated with the Syrian interim government blocking fuel from entering these two neighborhoods."

She also warned that if the situation continues this way, "it will lead to a major humanitarian catastrophe."

Since the collapse of the former Assad regime last year, Kurdish-led forces - who maintain security control over the two densely populated neighborhoods, home to more than 1.5 million people - have repeatedly clashed with the new authorities in Damascus.

Recent clashes erupted on Monday between Kurdish Asayish forces - affiliated with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian government troops and allied factions in the two neighborhoods, killing at least two people and injuring more than a dozen others.

Hevin Sulaiman, Co-chair of the Neighborhood Council for Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, told Rudaw on Saturday that Syrian government forces and armed groups have surrounded the Kurdish neighborhoods with heavy weapons and tanks, seeking to empty the neighborhoods of Kurds through a "policy of starvation and intimidation."

She added that the situation in the neighborhoods has been “somewhat calm” following attacks on Friday, but the danger persists. “These affiliated gangs with the defense ministry of the Sham [Damascus] government have been stationed around the neighborhoods for over four months."

Sulaiman also pointed out that the armed groups are targeting not only military points but also public services, saying: "Yesterday, while municipal teams were trying to repair the power lines and generators, they opened fire on the municipal vehicle," Sulaimani said, adding that "these are provocations. They do not want stability."

Regarding restrictions on movement, Sulaiman described a strict blockade, saying that the armed groups "have closed the roads to vehicles and only allow people to leave on foot," noting that "the biggest problem" is allowing people to return to their homes.

"When someone goes to the market for bread or food, they create obstacles and prevent them from returning inside the neighborhood. This is part of the policy of intimidation and emptying the neighborhood,” she said.

Sulaiman linked the attacks to broader political efforts aimed at undermining a ceasefire. “These armed groups, and some Turkey-affiliated factions within them, want to destroy the ceasefire," she said, adding that "they [armed groups] do not want the March 10 agreement - which is expected to be finalized in Damascus with international support - to succeed.”

The escalation comes despite a landmark agreement signed on March 10 between Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and SDF commander Mazloum Abdi. The deal called for the integration of all civil and military institutions in Rojava into the Syrian state and included a commitment to a nationwide ceasefire.

A follow-up agreement, signed in April, reportedly with US involvement, created a joint security framework for Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh - areas controlled by Kurds for over a decade.

The April deal also provided for prisoner exchanges. As part of its implementation, SDF fighters withdrew from the two neighborhoods, though local security forces affiliated with the SDF remain deployed.

Despite these agreements, sporadic clashes have continued.