Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led by Ahmed al-Sharaa (also known as Jolani), continues to violate the agreement signed on March 10 with Mazloum Abdi, the General Commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), by intensifying its attacks on Autonomous Administration areas. The HTS-affiliated factions, which have increased their activity from Deir Hafir to Tishrin and Aleppo, are specifically targeting the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods in an attempt to provoke clashes.
During the early years of the Syrian crisis, Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyah were targeted first by al-Nusra and later by ISIS. Now, the two neighborhoods, home to around 50,000 families (roughly 500,000 people), are under siege by HTS. Of the seven main roads connecting them to Aleppo, three have been blocked with dirt barricades.
As part of the March 10 agreement, a deal was signed on April 1 between the General Assembly of the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods and HTS to establish joint checkpoints along the main road. However, the HTS factions have violated the agreement 77 times, conducting drone surveillance and abducting civilians. They have also turned public facilities, such as the Asturiyan Hospital, into military posts.
The El Yarmouk Junction, El Jindol Junction, El Hadiqa Road, El Shihan Junction, Telia Ashrafiyeh Road, El Ewarid Road, and El Cezira Road connect the neighborhoods to Aleppo. But in recent days, HTS forces have blocked several of these routes, including the Yarmouk Road to the west of Sheikh Maqsoud, the El Jindol Junction to the north, and the Nadiya El Cela Road.
“Damascus wants to suffocate us”
Speaking to Yeni Özgür Politika about the situation, Nuri Shekho, co-chair of the General Assembly of the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyah neighborhoods, said: “The Damascus government wants to suffocate us. What’s happening now is no different from what the 4th Brigade of the Baath regime used to do.”
Shekho noted that since HTS seized control of Damascus in December 2024, it has implemented a policy of “revenge,” carrying out massacres, repression, and purges across various cities. “They are trying to impose a monolithic rule everywhere they go. Can a state or power built on revenge ever succeed?” he asked. Highlighting that groups responsible for massacres of Alawites, Druze, and Christians are now targeting Kurds, particularly in these two neighborhoods, Shekho warned that while talks are ongoing to resolve the situation, HTS is creating conditions for conflict.
HTS has established 25 to 30 checkpoints stretching from western to northern Aleppo, sealing off the neighborhoods and cutting the Deir Hafir–Cizire Region route connecting Aleppo to Autonomous Administration territories. Locals are now forced to use alternative routes through Hama villages — a 300-kilometer detour. Meanwhile, young people using the Deir Hafir road are being arrested on the pretext of having links with the SDF. According to Internal Security (Asayish) sources, more than 20 people have been detained.
“Damascus approves the attacks but can’t guarantee security”
Shekho pointed out that a special kind of war is being waged against the neighborhoods. In addition to Emshat and Hamzat, foreign militant groups, including Uyghurs and Turkmens, are involved in the siege. “These groups take direct orders from the Turkish state. They are heavily armed and have no law, justice, or morality. They threaten: ‘If you don’t surrender your weapons and obey, your fate will be like Serekaniye and Gire Spi.’ Damascus’s silence means two things: approval and inability to maintain security.”
People are being killed and homes seized
Shekho also described widespread tension and insecurity across Aleppo: “People’s homes are being seized, there are daily arrests, thefts, and killings. They want to impose the same in our neighborhoods. Military and political pressure directly affects daily life. But both neighborhoods refuse to surrender under any circumstances. We continue talks to find a solution.”
He added: “The so-called interim government has rejected the project for equality, democracy, and freedom. Instead, it imposes displacement, destruction, oppression, and crisis. HTS is forcing a Sunni-based state onto all peoples.”
Militants brought from Afrin
Hevîn Suleiman, co-chair of the General Assembly of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, stated that militants have occupied hospitals, mosques, and schools. Responding to the question of why the interim government is not solving the problem, she said: “When we raise this with them, they say these are ‘uncontrolled groups.’ The Emshat and Hamzat factions from Afrin have been relocated to Aleppo. We reported this to Damascus, but there has been no response, no action. As a result, the April 1 agreement is not being implemented, because Turkey wants to sabotage it and destroy the current system. These foreign fighters are trying to take over Sheikh Maqsoud. The threat is constant.”
Suleiman noted that the Autonomous Administration is trying to enforce the agreement and resolve the crisis through dialogue: “Joint committees need to cooperate, but because of external interference, this hasn’t happened in practice yet. The interim government wants to absorb our institutions into its own. But we insist that all peoples sit at the table with their own identities. The life in these neighborhoods should serve as a model for all of Syria. We’re taking precautions, but we’re not ending dialogue. We want a decentralized Syria that represents all colors, identities, and cultures. The interim government in Damascus, however, wants a centralized rule.”
Over 40,000 families without fuel
Suleiman underlined how the attacks affect daily life in Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyah: “Basic public and social services are disrupted. More importantly, diesel fuel deliveries are blocked. Winter is coming. There are sick people, the elderly, and children. If diesel doesn’t get through, there will be a severe electricity and heating crisis.”
HTS, which has closed the Aleppo–Raqqa road near Deir Hafir for the past week, is preventing diesel from entering the neighborhoods. According to Mihemed Ibiş, a member of the Fuel Committee who spoke to ANHA, before the embargo around 7,000 families could at least access heating fuel; now, at least 42,000 families are completely deprived of it.