Several thousand people have fled their homes in Syria’s second-largest city, Aleppo, after the army declared Kurdish neighbourhoods to be ‘closed military zones’.
In a statement, the military said that two of the Kurdish neighbourhoods have been seized and declared “closed military zones” as of 3 p.m. local time (12:00 GMT) on Wednesday, and residents were told to leave through designated humanitarian corridors.
The SDF also acknowledged large deployment of Syrian army vehicles near the areas, labelling it a “dangerous indicator that warns of escalation and the possibility of a major war”.
The ongoing fighting, according to officials, is between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the government’s forces. The clashes are said to have intensified late last year when the current Syrian government, led by Ahmad al-Sharaa, moved forces against the SDF forces in Aleppo.
The country’s social welfare ministry confirmed that by Wednesday night, more than 45,000 people had been displaced due to the fighting, with most of them heading northwest towards the enclave of Afrin, which is under Turkish protection.
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Some of the exasperated residents told reporters that they didn’t know where they were headed. “We fled the clashes, and we don’t know where to go … Fourteen years of war – I think that’s enough,” said one of the residents.
Reports say the latest fighting erupted on Tuesday, with officials saying at least nine people have been killed since then.
Syrian forces are currently aiming to reclaim parts of the country that are still controlled by various rebel groups, with the government pushing for complete dismantlement of the armed Kurdish-held neighbourhoods, which it considers a threat to the post-war recovery of the country.
The military operations command said on Wednesday that all SDF “military sites” in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods of Aleppo were “legitimate military targets”. The announcement came following major escalation in the neighbourhoods of Aleppo city by the SDF and its perpetration of numerous attacks on civilians.
Syria’s Information Minister Boutros al-Mustafa alleged that the SDF had violated ceasefire agreements more than 200 times and killed at least 20 civilians in recent escalations over the past month.
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