Syria begins to transfer surrounded SDF members from Aleppo after halt of military operations
Armed SDF members holed up in Yassin Hospital evacuated as military operations halted in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood
Syrian forces patrol streets in Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood after Syrian army units announced the liberation of the last neighborhood occupied by the SDF group in Aleppo, Syria on January 10, 2026.
ISTANBUL
Syrian authorities began to transfer surrounded members of the YPG/SDF terror group in Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to the city of Tabqah on Saturday following a suspension of military operations in the area, Syrian media reported.
Alikhbariah TV reported that SDF members who announced their surrender were transported by buses from Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to Tabqah city in the northern Raqqa province, under the supervision of the Syrian Ministry of Interior.
Buses departing Sheikh Maqsoud were also carrying civilian families whom the SDF had prevented from leaving the area earlier, a security source told the channel.
Earlier, the Syrian Army’s Operations Command announced a halt to all military operations inside the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the northern city of Aleppo following escalation with the YPG/SDF terror group.
“We announce the halt of all military operations inside the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo starting at 3:00 pm (1200GMT),” the Operations Command said in a statement carried by the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
“SDF militants entrenched inside Yassin Hospital will be transferred toward the city of Tabqah, with their weapons withdrawn,” it added.
The command said the army will begin handing over all health and government facilities to state institutions and will gradually withdraw from the streets of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.
Since Tuesday, the SDF has shelled residential neighborhoods, civilian facilities, and Syrian Army positions in Aleppo. The attacks have killed 23 people and wounded over 100 others, and triggered the displacement of about 165,000 residents from Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud.
Last March 10, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement for the SDF’s integration into state institutions, reaffirming the country's territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.
But authorities said that in the months since the SDF has not shown any efforts to meet the terms of the agreement.
The government has intensified efforts to maintain security across the country since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2024, after 24 years in power.
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