After fierce clashes with the SDF… The Syrian army announces the completion of clearing operations in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo

The Syrian army announced on Saturday morning that it had completely finished clearing the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo in the north of the country of elements of the Syria Democratic Forces (SDF).

This comes hours after the army launched a sweep operation in the neighborhood, which was the last neighborhood in Aleppo where elements of the SDF, the front of the Kurdish YPG, were present, after they were expelled by a previous agreement from the Ashrafiya and Bani Zaid neighborhoods.

The Syrian news agency SANA quoted the army’s operations command as announcing that the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo has been completely cleared.

The Syrian authority appealed to civilians in this neighborhood to stay in their homes and not go out because elements of the SDF are hiding among them.

It also called on them to contact the military forces present in the streets of the neighborhood in case of any emergency or to report the presence of SDF elements.

Earlier on Saturday morning, SANA quoted a Syrian military source as saying that the army had completed clearing more than 90 percent of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of SDF elements.

The source noted that the army forces “dismantled dozens of mines in the streets of the neighborhood, and are working to arrange for the entry of the Internal Security Forces as soon as the combing operations are completed”.

He noted that the army forces arrested an unspecified number of SDF members and confiscated heavy and medium weapons, large quantities of ammunition, light weapons, and explosive devices.

This comes as the Syrian Army Operations Authority confirmed in a statement carried by SANA that the only remaining option for the armed elements in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood is to surrender themselves and their weapons immediately to the nearest military point in exchange for guaranteeing their lives and personal safety.

“The Syrian army has begun its tasks in extending national sovereignty, and will deal firmly and destroy any source of fire, to ensure the security and stability of the region and protect the people,” according to the official statement.

The Syrian Army Operations Authority announced late Friday evening that it had begun combing the neighborhood of SDF militants, after all the deadlines given to them had expired, noting that the neighborhood would be handed over to the security forces and state institutions as soon as the combing operations were completed so that they could begin their work directly.

For its part, the Kurdish forces denied on Saturday in a statement that government forces had taken control of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo, stressing that clashes were continuing, after the Syrian army had announced the completion of combing the neighborhood.

A statement issued by the Kurdish security forces in Aleppo said, “The so-called Ministry of Defense in the Damascus government has circulated claims alleging that it controls 90% of the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood… We categorically affirm that these claims are false and misleading,” adding that “on the ground, the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood is witnessing fierce street clashes with the Damascus government militias”.

The events in Aleppo erupted last Tuesday, when the SDF, from its then-presence areas in the Ashrafieh, Bani Zeid and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods, launched attacks on residential neighborhoods, civilian facilities and army positions in Aleppo, resulting in 9 deaths and 55 injuries, and the displacement of 165,000 people from the two neighborhoods, according to the latest official figures announced.

The Syrian army responded by launching a limited military operation on Thursday, during which it managed to expel the organization’s elements from the Ashrafiya and Bani Zaid neighborhoods and extend its control over them, leaving Sheikh Maqsoud as the only neighborhood in Aleppo where SDF elements are present, before the army announced today that it had completed combing it completely.