Earlier on Friday, the army announced the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave Sheikh Maqsoud for other parts of Aleppo, while urging YPG terrorists to lay down their arms.
Ahead of its operation, the Syrian Army identified locations inside Sheikh Maqsoud that it said would be targeted, saying the YPG had turned them into military headquarters and firing positions used to launch attacks on Aleppo neighbourhoods, according to Alikhbariya channel.
Fighting in Aleppo erupted on Tuesday when the YPG terror group attacked from Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud on residential areas, civilian facilities, and army positions, killing nine people and wounding 55 others, and displacing about 165,000 residents from the two neighbourhoods, according to the latest official figures.
In response, the Syrian Army launched a “limited” military operation on Thursday, regaining control of Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid. By Friday evening, Sheikh Maqsoud remained the only neighbourhood outside state control.
On March 10 2025, the Syrian presidency declared an agreement to integrate the YPG terror group-led SDF into state institutions, affirming national unity and rejecting division attempts.
Officials say that the group has shown no effort to meet the agreement’s terms in the months since.
Since Assad’s removal in December 2024, after 24 years, the government has intensified efforts to maintain national security.