Syria has renewed strikes on YPG terrorists holed up in Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood of northern Aleppo province after they defied a ceasefire that sought to halt days of fighting.
According to TRT World's Nizar Sadawi, the operation began early on Saturday after YPG terrorists refused to leave, even after the government opened a humanitarian corridor for civilians to evacuate from the volatile area.
The Syrian Army has declared a curfew and designated the area a "closed military zone."
The army said the curfew took effect at 6:30 pm local time (15:30 GMT) on Friday and will remain in place "until further notice," according to SANA news agency.
The development comes as YPG-controlled areas continue to shrink in Aleppo, after government forces pushed the group out of the Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid neighbourhoods, leaving its presence confined to Sheikh Maqsoud.
Humanitarian corridor
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.
