Aleppo, Syria – The Syrian Al-Ekhbariya channel reported on Tuesday that a ceasefire agreement had been reached in the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo between government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
While media reported that gunfire continued to be heard in the vicinity of the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods.
This is despite the announcement of a ceasefire.
For his part, the Governor of Aleppo, Azzam Al-Gharib, announced the suspension of work in all official departments, and the postponement of exams in schools and universities in Aleppo, on Tuesday.
The decision excluded entities whose nature of work requires them to continue providing medical care and emergency services to citizens.
The commander of internal security in Aleppo, Mohammed Abdul Ghani, told the Syrian Al-Ekhbariya channel that government forces have developed a plan to secure and surround the entrances to the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, through which weapons and materials prohibited by the SDF pass.
Abdul Ghani added that government forces are responding to SDF fire sources.
He pointed out that the Syrian Democratic Forces are still digging tunnels in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo.
He stressed that the SDF’s violations did not stop in the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo.
But he pointed out that the exit of civilians from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods is possible, and that government forces guarantee their security.
Defense Ministry statement
Earlier, the Syrian Ministry of Defense said on Monday that the army had redeployed along several fronts of the Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast of the country.
This came after tensions escalated between the two sides.
The statement stressed that this step is not a prelude to military action, but rather aims to prevent repeated attacks and attempts by the Kurdish-led group to control new lands.
The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported, quoting the ministry, that the Syrian army’s movements come within the plan to redeploy it on some axes in northern and northeastern Syria.
This came after the repeated attacks by the SDF forces, targeting residents, army and security forces, and attempting to control new points and villages.
“We are committed to the March 10 agreement, and there are no intentions of military operations,” she added, citing the Ministry of Defense’s Information and Communications Department.
Sporadic clashes
Witnesses said that the army had earlier closed two neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces.
Which sparked sporadic protests by residents.
Witnesses said sporadic clashes continued on the outskirts of the two Kurdish-run neighborhoods.
Residents reported that rocket shells were fired from inside the two neighborhoods and hit nearby residential areas.
A security source said that a security officer was killed in an attack on a checkpoint.
Kurdish fighters linked to the Syrian Democratic Forces said they repelled an attack by government forces.
Two residents told Reuters that dozens of families in the two neighborhoods were fleeing in search of safety.
SANA had previously reported that a member of the Internal Security Forces was killed and 4 others were injured when SDF forces targeted security checkpoints around the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in Aleppo on Tuesday.
Snipers on rooftops
The agency added that a number of wounded civilians arrived at Al-Razi Hospital, as a result of their injuries as a result of the SDF targeting residential neighborhoods in the vicinity of Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafieh with mortar shells and heavy machine guns.
She pointed out that a number of snipers belonging to the SDF forces were deployed on the roofs of residential buildings in the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods.
It was also reported that a woman was injured in the Sheikh Taha neighborhood in Aleppo by fire from SDF snipers stationed on the roofs of residential buildings in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood.
While civilian casualties occurred, including women and children, as a result of SDF forces targeting residential neighborhoods in the Al-Midan and Bustan Al-Basha neighborhoods in Aleppo with rocket-propelled grenades and mortar shells.
Meanwhile, a civilian was killed and four others were injured in a SDF missile attack on the Saif al-Dawla neighborhood.
Tunnel around Achrafieh district
In addition, a military source explained to SANA that army forces discovered earlier today a tunnel for SDF forces linking their positions to a place behind army and security positions in the vicinity of the Achrafieh neighborhood, and it was blown up.
He pointed out that the SDF forces prepared the tunnel in order to carry out acts of sabotage, and used it to infiltrate and carry out operations against army and security forces.
The source pointed out that after the army forces discovered the tunnel and blew it up, the SDF sent its members in civilian clothes, and clashed with the internal security checkpoints with sticks and stones to occupy them.
This was before armed elements infiltrated before it and targeted the checkpoints.
Following the attack, the army, according to the source, began deploying checkpoints to completely close the roads leading to the neighborhoods, and redeployed around Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in Aleppo.
The spokesman for the Syrian Ministry of Interior, Nour al-Din al-Baba, said earlier on Tuesday that the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) want to turn the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods into military barracks from which they attack civilians.
