Yesterday, we learned of the capture of the Şêxmeqsûd (Sheikh Maqsoud) and Eşrefiyê (Ashrafiyeh) neighborhoods by the armed forces of the Syrian transitional government, which had been besieging them since January 6. Kurdish women fighters were evacuated or taken captive, and tens of thousands of civilians remain displaced.
Şêxmeqsûd and Eşrefiyê
Since the HTS offensive in December 2024, and the attacks on the Şehba region and the city of Manbij, the neighborhoods of Şêxmeqsûd and Eşrefiyê in Aleppo were among the last areas of the Autonomous Democratic Administration of North and East Syria (AADNES) west of the Euphrates. Around 200,000 people lived there—primarily Kurdish refugees from Afrin, but also Christian and Arab refugees—and organized themselves through a system of civil councils.
Following the general ceasefire agreement of March 10 between the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Syrian transitional government, a specific agreement for Aleppo was signed on April 1. This agreement provided for the demilitarization of the neighborhoods and the withdrawal of the SDF, in exchange for guarantees of non-aggression by the armed forces of the transitional government and the preservation of civilian self-administration and a police force (the Asayîş), equipped only with light weapons.
What happened this week?
Despite these ceasefire agreements, government forces subjected the neighborhoods throughout the year to various forms of blockade—cutting electricity, water, fuel, and other supplies—in an attempt to exert pressure on the AADNES and the SDF during negotiations.
On December 22, attacks targeted the neighborhoods following the visit of Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan to Damascus, even before a new ceasefire was concluded. On January 4, while an AADNES delegation was in Damascus to continue negotiations following the March 10 agreement, these talks were abruptly halted by representatives of the transitional government under pressure from Turkey. Two days later, on January 6, the armed forces of the transitional government launched a massive assault on Şêxmeqsûd using tanks, drones, heavy artillery, and several thousand fighters, with the aim of seizing the neighborhoods and expelling the Kurdish population as well as the civilian and military authorities.
Heroic resistance
In the face of these attacks, the civil councils of both neighborhoods issued several statements affirming their support for the defense forces and their determination to remain in the neighborhoods until the end. Approximately 300 Asayîş fighters resisted the brutal assaults of the transitional government for five days and nights, armed only with light weapons. We honor their courage and sacrifice, especially that of the women fighters who carried out a self-sacrificing action to halt the advance of the radical Islamist forces. We honor the commander of the resistance, Ziyad Heleb, who was martyred yesterday.
Human rights violations
We condemn the grave human rights violations committed by the armed forces of the transitional government. Among the Islamist militias that took part in the attack were the internationally sanctioned groups Hamzat, al-Amshat, Sultan Murad, and Nour al-Din al-Zenki. These groups had previously participated in the invasions of Afrin and Serêkaniyê/Girê Spî in 2018 and 2019 and were later integrated into the new Syrian army, including within the 76th, 62nd, 72nd, and 80th divisions.
More than 300 civilian homes were damaged during the attacks, and the only civilian hospital in Şêxmeqsûd—the Martyr Khaled Fajr Hospital—was repeatedly targeted. According to the latest reports, dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds wounded. Several summary executions have also been reported, including that of a fighter who was previously stripped naked and humiliated in videos circulated on social media. The YPJ also condemned the desecration of the body of a woman Asayîş fighter, whose body was thrown from a building by a radical Islamist militiaman.
The transitional government employed inhumane methods in Aleppo: forced evacuations of the civilian population and declarations that anyone remaining in the neighborhoods would be considered a combatant—constituting a clear violation of international humanitarian law. While several hundred wounded civilians, fighters, and fallen comrades were evacuated overnight to AADNES-controlled areas, more than 300 people were arrested and treated inhumanely the following morning, after the transitional government took full control of the neighborhoods. Tens of thousands of civilians remain displaced within Aleppo and the surrounding countryside, many sleeping in their cars or outdoors.
Defending the Rojava Revolution
Today more than ever, we must defend the Rojava Revolution and preserve its achievements. As ceasefire agreements and prospects for integration into a unified Syrian army are increasingly undermined, we must be the voice of the women and peoples of Syria—Kurds, Alawites, Druze, and Arabs—who refuse to see their country ruled by a political Islamist regime acting as a puppet of Turkey and Western powers.
We must condemn both the inaction and the support of the US and European governments for the Syrian transitional government and demand international sanctions against it. A united Syria can only emerge on the basis of respect for the rights of all communities, the rights of women and LGBTI people, accountability for the crimes committed by the new government, and the active participation of the entire population in the democratic reconstruction of the country.
People‘s Bridge, 12.01.2026
