The neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyah, and Beni Zed in Aleppo were subjected to intense attacks between January 6 and 10, 2025, by gang groups linked to the Syrian interim government and the Turkish state. The attacks, carried out with tanks, artillery units, armed drones, and all kinds of heavy weapons, led to massacres, the abduction of many people, and the displacement of tens of thousands.
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 120,000 people were displaced from the Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyah, and Beni Zed neighborhoods, and according to human rights organizations, more than 500 people are missing.
Because journalists and human rights organizations are not allowed to enter the neighborhoods, clear information cannot be obtained. However, according to sources in the area, gang groups such as Hemzat, Emshat, Nureddin Zengi, and Sultan Murad have been rounding up remaining residents after the massacres, insulting them, and abducting them.
According to reports by ANHA based on local sources, a group of Kurdish residents living in the Ashrafiyah neighborhood were abducted during ongoing house raids and taken to unknown locations.
Looting reported
According to the Afrin Human Rights Organization, gang groups have begun looting people’s property in the streets. Looting is taking place on many streets of Sheikh Maqsoud, especially on 20th Street near the Martyr Koli junction, Badino Street, 15th Street, and the street opposite the Shekato Intelligence Office. It was reported that the gangs are entering shops and looting everything inside, including furniture, household appliances, and all other belongings.
Health Centers damaged
In addition to the attacks and looting by armed groups, electricity and health problems in the neighborhoods have reached serious levels. It is reported that electricity is supplied for only two hours a day and that many health centers have been destroyed.