ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Militants affiliated with the Syrian government have reportedly imposed a “complete siege” on Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Syria’s northern Aleppo province, a local official told Rudaw on Monday. The move comes amid growing reports of a military buildup by Damascus-aligned forces near these areas.
Hevin Sulaiman, a senior official from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, said that “militants affiliated with the interim government in Damascus have closed all seven entrances to the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods,” placing the two quarters “under a complete siege.”
The reported escalation comes only days after Nouri Sheikho, another co-chair of the General Council for the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, told Rudaw on Wednesday that “the situation in the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh has been deteriorating for over a month.
“There has been a [sustained] media campaign targeting these neighborhoods,” Sheikho said, noting that the military build-up includes “the establishment of new checkpoints, watchposts, and roadblocks,” spreading fear among the local population.
“People are increasingly worried that open conflict could erupt,” he warned.
The heightened tensions come despite a landmark agreement signed on March 10 between Syria’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) chief Mazloum Abdi. The deal called for the integration of all civil and military institutions in northeast Syria (Rojava) under the authority of the Syrian state and included a commitment to a nationwide ceasefire.
A follow-up agreement, signed in April reportedly with US involvement, created a joint security framework for Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh - areas controlled by Kurds for over a decade.
That deal also included provisions for prisoner exchanges. As part of the implementation, SDF fighters were withdrawn from the two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, although local forces affiliated with the SDF, known as Asayish, remain in place.
Despite these agreements, sporadic clashes have continued.
In late September, the Asayish said they had “repelled an attack by armed factions affiliated with the Damascus government’s defense ministry” on Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh.
In his interview with Rudaw, Sheikho accused these groups of intentionally provoking instability and attempting to incite conflict with the Kurdish forces in the two neighborhoods.
“An unusual number of armed men - some affiliated with the defense ministry and others operating outside the ministry’s authority - have been deployed near the Kurdish neighborhoods,” he said.
Sheikho described the developments as part of a broader effort by Damascus to impose unilateral control over Kurdish-held areas. “They want to force us into unconditional surrender - despite more than 20 years of resistance and sacrifice,” he said.