SDF Militants Withdraw from Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud Neighborhood

SYRIA – The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) withdrew from Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, leaving the area under the Syrian army control.

After accepting the evacuation, the YPG/SDF militants were placed in a convoy of buses and ambulances.

Another group of YPG/SDG militants stationed at the Yasin Hospital in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood was later evacuated from the area.

Syria’s state television, citing security sources, said the groups are the last YPG/SDF militants to leave Aleppo.

The Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods have now been cleared of YPG/SDF elements and are under control of the Syrian Army, it said.

The town of Tabqa, where the militants are to be taken, is located on the western bank of the Euphrates River in an area under YPG/SDF control.

The army had announced that all military operations in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood were halted as of 3 pm local time Friday.

The YPG/SDF has shelled residential neighborhoods, civilian facilities and Syrian Army positions in Aleppo since Tuesday.

The attacks have killed 23 people and wounded more than 100, and triggered the displacement of 165,000 residents from the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud districts.

Stability Returning in Aleppo

The Aleppo governor said Sunday that security and normal life are gradually returning to the northern Syrian city after key neighborhoods were cleared of YPG/SDF terror elements.

In a post through US social media company X, Azzam al-Gharib reassured residents that “the security situation is witnessing a gradual return to stability in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, so that the city may return to a state of safety and stability.”

He said “the page of anxiety has been turned,” adding that Aleppo “has returned safe with its people – strong in their unity and fortified by their will.”

Al-Gharib noted that “the relevant authorities are continuing their field work on an ongoing basis to stabilize security and ensure the return of normal life in all neighborhoods,” concluding that “Aleppo today is safe, and tomorrow it will be even more stable, God willing.”