Damascus Fighters Use Machine Guns in Attack on SDF Point, SOHR Says

SOHR's Website

Aleppo city's Kurdish neighbourhoods following the recent escalation.

Damascus government-affiliated militants attacked a Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) point in the village of Abu Hamam, east of Deir Ezzor, on Tuesday, 13 January 2025, prompting a strong response from the SDF. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said government-affiliated fighters used machine guns during the attack and that the extent of damages is still not known.

The SOHR added that the incident comes amid heightened tensions in eastern Deir Ezzor, where Damascus government forces have reportedly been placed on full alert.

Meanwhile, the Syrian interim government’s Ministry of Defence claimed that the SDF was carrying out military operations in the areas of Maskanah and Dayr Hafir. The SDF firmly rejected these allegations, stating that it had investigated what it described as misleading claims by the Damascus Ministry of Defence regarding the situation on the ground.

In a statement, the SDF stressed that it had no troop movements or force build-ups in Maskanah or Dayr Hafir, describing the reports as baseless rumours. It added that current military movements in the region were linked solely to Damascus government forces.

Regarding the situation in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, the SOHR reported that the death toll since the start of the attacks has risen to 39. Of those killed, 26 were civilians, including seven women and five children.

According to the SOHR, 20 people were killed in Sheikh Maqsoud, including five women and four children. In the al-Maidan area, four people were killed, among them two women and one child. Two staff members of Osman Hospital were killed in the Ashrafieh neighbourhood, while 13 members of the Internal Security Forces (Asayish) also lost their lives.

The SOHR said that approximately 115 people, most of them women and children, were wounded during the violence. It also reported that 24 Damascus government fighters were killed in the clashes.

In addition, around 300 people remain missing, while more than 155,000 displaced civilians — the majority of them Kurds — are living in difficult humanitarian conditions across other parts of Aleppo and northern Syria.



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