On 6 January 2026, armed groups affiliated with the Transitional Government and backed by the Turkish state, El-Emşat, El-Hemzat, Sultan Murad, and Nureddin Zengi, launched large-scale attacks on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah, and Beni Zed. In these assaults, more than 80 tanks and 42,000 fighters brought in from across Syria were used. The attacks were carried out systematically against civilians and emergency service facilities. Fighters of the Internal Security Forces mounted a historic resistance against these assaults.
One of the witnesses to the attacks on the neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud, and a member of the Aleppo Internal Security Forces, Hemze Hebeş, described the moments of the attack and resistance as follows: “The attacks on our neighborhood began in Ashrafiyah by the El-Emşat and El-Hemzat gangs. With these attacks, they wanted to provoke movement on our side, but despite this, we did not respond to the initial attacks in order to prevent a major war and clashes from breaking out. We remained relatively restrained in the face of these attacks. During the attacks, they demanded that we withdraw from our positions; in order to stop the fighting and clashes, we pulled back to a certain point. However, after that, the attacks intensified within minutes, and civilians and children were targeted.”
Emphasizing at the end of his remarks that the attack was carried out under the pretext of the presence of the SDF in the neighborhood, Hemze Hebeş said: “The attack was carried out under the pretext of the presence of the SDF, but there was no SDF in the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyah. All civilians, service facilities, and the Martyr Xalid Fecir Hospital were targeted. Eight tanks and drones attacked the Xalid Fecir Hospital, and the lives of the staff and patients there were in grave danger.”
Meanwhile, one of the resistance fighters in Sheikh Maqsoud, Siyamend Cafer, said that the attacks targeted all service facilities, saying: “The Martyr Xalid Fecir Hospital was directly targeted. The Internal Security Forces responded to these attacks and, despite the existing and extremely difficult conditions, used every effort and opportunity to protect people and children. The resistance lasted for a week.”