Syrian army shells Kurdish areas of Aleppo declared 'closed military zones'
The Syrian army declared Aleppo's Kurdish neighbourhoods as closed military zones on Wednesday, as days of violence continued to escalate in the city.
The army statement said two humanitarian corridors would be opened from neighbourhoods controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to allow civilians to flee.
It said that after 3pm, "the Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods will be considered closed military zones".
A correspondent for AFP said the army had already begun bombarding the areas on Wednesday afternoon, in an apparent escalation.
Since the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad in December 2024 by a coalition led by current President Ahmed al-Sharaa, tensions have mounted between the SDF - who are part of a political alliance that controls much of northeastern Syria - and the new authorities, who are backed by the SDF's opponent, Turkey.
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Turkey considers the People's Protection Units (YPG), the leading component in the SDF, to be an extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an armed organisation that the country fought a decades-long conflict with.
The Syrian army accused the SDF of carrying out "massacres" against civilians in Aleppo and shelling into areas controlled by government forces, something the Kurdish group has denied.
One Syrian official was quoted by Al-Jazeera saying the SDF had released all its detainees from the al-Shakif prison in Aleppo, which included members of the Islamic State group.
The SDF, for its part, has accused the army of "indiscriminate artillery and missile shelling" against its neighbourhoods, which have been under the control of the YPG and its allies since 2012, including "the use of drones … direct sniper fire and heavy weapon fire".
The SDF's Asayish security force urged residents of the Ashrafiyeh and Sheikh Maqsood nieghbourhoods to “stay home and not be swayed by fake news and rumors aimed at displacement and forced migration.”
In March 2025, SDF leader Mazloum Abdi signed a landmark agreement with Sharaa to merge with the Damascus government.
However, the process has stalled over a number of issues, including constitutional questions and the prospects for a decentralised power system in Syria.
Turkey has long been pushing for the dissolution of the YPG and its allied forces. The PKK officially declared an end to its war with Turkey in May 2025, and the country has been pressing for the YPG/SDF to follow suit.
On Tuesday, Turkey’s Defence Minister Yasar Guler said all the associated pro-Kurdish groups needed to lay down their arms, "including in Syria".
"The PKK and all affiliated groups must immediately cease all terrorist activity in regions where they are present, including in Syria, and lay down their weapons without condition," he told a press conference in Ankara.
"We will not allow any terrorist organisation - particularly the PKK, the PYD, the YPG, and the SDF - to establish a foothold in the region."
Meanwhile, Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) accused Damascus of carrying out an "extermination operation" against Kurds in Aleppo.
"Let us not forget that Syria is a geography that is home to Arabs, Kurds, Druze, Armenians and all peoples and belief groups living there," the party's Central Executive Board said on Wednesday.
"The essential way to prevent the emergence of a new environment of conflict in Syria lies in the democratisation of the country, Turkey’s responsibility is to support this democratization process and to encourage such a process."
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