Attacks escalate in the nth Syrian Aleppo by the Islamist-led Interim Govt factions and fighters affiliated with Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Damascus reportedly to go to war against the Kurdish-led autonomy..
by southfront.press, hawarnews, thefreeonline, https://wp.me/pIJl9-HP3 on 8 Jan 2026
Civilians carry their bags and belongings as they flee clashes between the Syrian army and the SDF in Aleppo, Syria, on January 8, 2026
A recap of recent developments
- More than 100,000 civilians flee Aleppo neighbourhoods, the director of the media department in Aleppo has told Al Jazeera.
- At least 100,000 more remain trapped.
- 🟠Two more tanks of the Interim Govt’s mercenaries destroyed in Shaqif, Castello axes 🌐More (hawarnews.com/en/two-more-…)
🔵The Kurdistan Women’s Union (KJK)affirmed that the attacks on the residents of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid in Aleppo are an extension of the attacks carried out against Alawites and Druze, and that they represent an assault on the Kurdish people in particular. They called on all peoples to declare general mobilization against these genocidal attacks t.me/enhawarnews✅
- Clashes have renewed in the northern city of Aleppo between the Syrian army and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) for a third day.
- A Syrian military source has told Al Jazeera the Syrian army has begun artillery bombardment of SDF positions in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh districts.
- 🟠Casualties toll of shelling on besieged neighborhoods in Aleppo rises to 72 🌐More (hawarnews.com/en/casualtie…)
- Our colleagues on the ground report that ambulance teams have been forced to withdraw from Zouhour Street due to heavy mortar fire and sniper activity targeting the area, as civilians continue to flee.
- The SDF is supported by the US but only in its fight against ISIS. The US stood aside as NATO ally Turkey occupied and ethnically cleansed Kurdish Afrin and the border strip.
- The SDF consists of many ethnic groups and women’s militias of the Autonomous Administration (AANES), Rojava Revolution.
- The SDF says its forces are engaged in heavy clashes with the Syrian army near the Syriac Quarter (Hayy al-Seryan).
- Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are Kurdish districts of Aleppo city which resisted the whole civil war and practice the Rojava Revolution, including women’s equality, communal economy and direct democracy.
- At least five civilians have been killed and 44 injured from SDF shelling of the city’s neighbourhoods, according to the govt.
- Turkiye’s military is ready to “support” Syria in its battle with SDF fighters if Damascus asks for help, a defence ministry official has repeated.
- “Until the Kurds feel their rights and existence protected in the new state, they cannot disarm for ex Al Qaeda factions vowing to genocide them”.
- 🟠ISF repel attacks by Interim Govt.’s mercenaries, inflict them with heavy losses 🌐More (hawarnews.com/en/isf-repel…) 3h
- The Govt attack began directly after an agreement giving with Israel control of Sth Syria, freeing state terrorist forces to attack the Kurds.
- The SDF has said that at least nine civilians were killed so far in the Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods.
- They are releasing videos of intensifying clashes. In some of the footage civilians can be seen wounded on the streets.
- The SDF began to amass forces in the town of Deir Hafer in the eastern Aleppo countryside. The group is either attempting to pressure Damascus, or seriously considering launching an attack towards Aleppo city to relieve Kurdish forces.
South Front Coverage
Clashes have renewed in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo between the forces of the Islamist-led Interim Government and fighters affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), with reports indicating that Damascus had made the decision to go to war against the Kurdish-led group.
Tensions between the Interim Government and the SDF have been building up for months over the failure to implement the integration agreement signed last March. The SDF has delayed laying down arms as in the March 10th 2025 Agreement, noting that not one of the other agreed clauses have been honoured by the Govt, amid ongoing racist attacks by state sponsored terror factions.
Civilian death toll rises in Ongoing Aleppo Attacks🔵The number of civilian martyrs has risen to 8 and the number of injured to 55 as a result of the continued attacks on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyeh, and Bani Zaid in the city of Aleppo
The end of the year deadline passed with no progress, and direct talks held in Damascus on January 4 failed to produce any meaningful understanding.
The clashes broke out around the Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh on January 6, with each side accusing the other of attacking first.
Multiple attempts to de-escalate failed, and by the end of the day it became clear that government forces are preparing a military operation to capture the neighborhoods, which are under the de facto control of the SDF.
continues below…
ANHA COVERAGE
🔔 HAWAR NEWS AGENCY #ANHA
Dozens of main battle tanks and armored personnel carriers were deployed around Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh by government forces, which also began to use heavy artillery and drones.
🟠ANHA agency documents by name 13 martyrs, 64 wounded in attacks on besieged Aleppo neighborhoods🌐More (https://hawarnews.com/en/mercenaries-of-interim-government-renew-shelling-on-al-shaqif-neighborhood-in-aleppo)
ANHA English, [08/01/2026 6:45]
🟠Civilian death toll rises in Ongoing Aleppo Attacks
🔵The number of civilian martyrs has risen to 8 and the number of injured to 55 as a result of the continued attacks on the neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafiyeh, and Bani Zaid in the city of Aleppo
🌐More (https://hawarnews.com/en/civilian-death-toll-rises-in-ongoing-aleppo-attacks)
ANHA English, [08/01/2026 7:57]
🟠Besieged neighborhoods in Aleppo under heavy shelling
🔵The neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid in Aleppo are currently coming under indiscriminate shelling carried out by mercenaries of the so-called interim government.
🌐More (http://hawarnews.com/en/besieged-neighborhoods-in-aleppo-under-heavy-shelling)
🔔 HAWAR NEWS AGENCY #ANHA
🟠Attack by interim govt. mercenaries foiled, 4 heavy military vehicles destroyed
🔵Internal Security Forces in Aleppo thwarted a large-scale attack by interim government mercenaries on the Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid neighborhoods, destroying four vehicles loaded with heavy weapons and killing and wounding a number of the attackers.
🔔 HAWAR NEWS AGENCY #ANHA t.me/enhawarnews✅
🔴The Commander-in-Chief of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) affirmed that the deployment of tanks and the targeting of civilians undermine the prospects for negotiations, create conditions for dangerous demographic changes, and expose the two neighborhoods to the risk of massacres.
🟠Mercenaries turn school into attack launch site
ANHA English, [08/01/2026 10:29]
🔵Mercenary groups affiliated with the so-called interim government, and backed by the Turkish state, have occupied a school located opposite the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood and converted it into a position (trench) from which to launch attacks.
🌐More (https://hawarnews.com/en/mercenaries-turn-school-into-attack-launch-site)
🔔 HAWAR NEWS AGENCY #ANHA
🦋 Our position in Blue Sky https://apps.osrah.sa/enhawarnews
📱 Our position in X https://x.com/enhawarnews
t.me/enhawarnews✅
South Front Coverage /cont southfront.press
Notably, the escalation in Aleppo began right after Syria, Israel and the United States announced an understanding on a joint coordination mechanism that would demilitarize southern Syria and give Israel security and even economic influence over all of the region. The understanding was reached following two days of talks in Paris.
A Syrian official close to President Ahmed al-Shara told Israel’s i24NEWS that Israel urgently asked Washington to delay finalizing an agreement between Damascus and the SDF. This indicates that the attack on the Kurdish-led group may be a part of the understanding reached in France.
Kurdish forces in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are well-armed, highly-experienced, and numbered in the thousands. The neighborhoods are also located on high ground, and reported to be fortified, even with a complete network of underground tunnels. The battle there could go on for weeks, or even months.
Damascus seems determined to take over these neighborhoods, and the only way to avoid a deadly battle there may be an agreement that allows Kurdish forces to withdraw. It is unclear if the SDF would accept this, however.
By January 7 morning, six civilians, including two women and a child, had been killed in the Kurdish neighborhoods, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which also reported the death of three other civilians, two women and a child, and three members of government forces on the other side.
Damascus escalated further, with the operations command of its military declaring Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh a “closed military zone,” and classifying all SDF positions within the two neighborhoods as “legitimate military targets.” The military also announced a curfew and opened two evacuation corridors, promoting an exodus of civilians from the neighborhoods.
Clashes later raged to the north and east of the neighborhoods, mainly along the Castillo road and the Alleramoon round about.
The SDF said that an attack by government forces was repelled, but a military source denied in a statement to the state-run SANA news agency that an advance attempt was made.
“Security and stability will soon be established in the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods in a manner appropriate to protect the residents from the brutality of the SDF organization,” the source was quoted as saying.
Separately, a Syrian official confirmed to Al-Jazeera that a “limited” military operation will be launched against the SDF in Aleppo.
Meanwhile, the SDF began to amass forces in the town of Deir Hafer in the eastern Aleppo countryside. The group is either attempting to pressure Damascus, or seriously considering launching an attack towards Aleppo city to relieve Kurdish forces.
Notably, the escalation in Aleppo began right after Syria, Israel and the United States announced an understanding on a joint coordination mechanism that would demilitarize southern Syria and give Israel security and even economic influence over all of the region. The understanding was reached following two days of talks in Paris.
A Syrian official close to President Ahmed al-Shara told Israel’s i24NEWS that Israel urgently asked Washington to delay finalizing an agreement between Damascus and the SDF. This indicates that the attack on the Kurdish-led group may be a part of the understanding reached in France.
Kurdish forces in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh are well-armed, highly-experienced, and numbered in the thousands. The neighborhoods are also located on high ground, and reported to be fortified, even with a complete network of underground tunnels. The battle there could go on for weeks, or even months.
Damascus seems determined to take over these neighborhoods, and the only way to avoid a deadly battle there may be an agreement that allows Kurdish forces to withdraw. It is unclear if the SDF would accept this, however
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
The Free 