DAMASCUS / ISTANBUL

A Syrian soldier and four civilians, including a child, were killed, and several others were wounded Tuesday in attacks by the SDF terror group in the northern city of Aleppo, according to media reports.

The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said a drone attack targeted army deployment sites near the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo, killing one soldier and injuring others.

SANA reported that the four civilians, which included two women and a child, were killed in SDF shelling of residential buildings in the Al-Midan neighborhood in the city.

Citing local officials in Aleppo, the agency said 16 people were also injured, including children and nine civil servants, in the SDF attacks.

The outlet also reported the displacement of residents from Nile Street in northern Aleppo toward safer areas after SDF attacks on residential buildings.

SDF terrorists also shelled Zahi Azrak Hospital, affiliated with the Aleppo Health Directorate, in the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood and Al-Kalima School in the New Seryan neighborhood in Aleppo.

No information was yet available about casualties.

According to SANA, the Syrian army evacuated staff from another hospital in Aleppo city after it came under fire by the terrorist group.

The agency said army units transported medical personnel from Aleppo Internal Medicine Hospital in armored vehicles to Al-Razi Hospital to ensure their safety.

SDF terrorists also hit the Tattan fuel station in the Suleimaniyah area with a suicide drone.

Meanwhile, Syrian authorities announced that classes would suspended Wednesday at schools and universities, along with work at government institutions in Aleppo, due to continued artillery shelling by the SDF.

Aleppo Governor Azam al-Gharib said the suspension applies to public and private schools and universities, as well as government departments.

“All collective and social activities have also been canceled during this period to ensure everyone’s safety,” he added.

He urged citizens to “exercise caution, avoid heading to the city center or passing through areas of clashes, and stay away from gathering points.”

“We reassure you that the competent authorities and relevant forces are dealing firmly with sources of gunfire, and the necessary measures have been taken to bring the situation under control and ensure public security,” he said.

United Syria

Ahmad Muaffaq Zaidan, a media affairs adviser to the Syrian presidency, condemned the SDF attacks.

“The practices of the SDF militias today reminded Syrians of the gangs of (ousted President Bashar) al-Assad, through their violation of pledges, covenants and agreements, targeting civilians, terrorizing them and forcing them from their homes,” he said on the US social media company X.

“Syria is one, united — Arabs and Kurds, with all its components,” he stressed.

The Syrian Defense Ministry said that it had carried out retaliatory strikes against positions of the PKK/YPG terror organization.

“The SDF has been escalating its attacks against army units and civilians in Aleppo province for the third consecutive day,” the ministry’s media and communications directorate said in a statement.

It said army units targeted SDF sources of fire and the launch points of the terrorist group’s unmanned aerial vehicles in response to the attacks.

According to the statement, some SDF terrorists were neutralized, and an ammunition depot was destroyed.

“Tuesday’s attacks clearly demonstrate again that the SDF does not recognize the March 10 Agreement,” the ministry said.

It stressed that the organization has effectively violated the agreement, accusing the PKK/YPG of attempting “to draw the army into open warfare by seeking to determine the battlefield on its own terms.”

An official at Aleppo’s Media Directorate told SANA that the SDF “violated the agreement concluded in March 2025 between the Syrian government and the SDF,” and has moved toward an escalation by targeting the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods with “snipers and indiscriminate artillery fire.”

The official said civilian areas were hit, including the Agriculture Directorate building in the Al-Midan neighborhood, and that areas surrounding Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud have witnessed displacement due to the “direct and indiscriminate” attacks.

He said the SDF was “preventing residents from leaving the two neighborhoods,” despite Internal Security Forces opening checkpoints and securing civilians during their exit.

The attacks came one day after three soldiers were injured in a similar SDF drone strike in the Aleppo countryside on Monday.

On Sunday, Alikhbaria TV channel reported that meetings were held in Damascus with SDF representatives, including its commander Mazloum Abdi, to follow up on the implementation of a March 10, 2025, agreement, adding that the talks produced no tangible results.

Syrian officials accuse the SDF of delaying the implementation of the agreement signed by Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and the group’s leader.

The SDF is dominated by the terrorist group YPG, the Syrian branch of the terrorist PKK.

On 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.

Syrian authorities say that in the months since, the SDF has not shown any efforts to meet the terms of the agreement.