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8h ago

Aleppo Residents Begin Return as Syrian Army Sends Reinforcements After SDF Pullout

Damascus cites alleged SDF and PKK buildups in rural eastern Aleppo that the SDF rejects.

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Buses carrying displaced residents drive past a building in ruins as they return to the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)
Displaced residents return to a the Achrafieh neighborhood after days of fighting between government forces and Kurdish fighters in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Overview

  • State media showed army reinforcements moving toward deployment lines east of Aleppo near Maskana and Deir Hafer, while the SDF denied any new military movements.
  • About 10 buses carrying roughly 700 families returned to Achrafieh, even as AP reported around 148,000 people displaced with many sheltering in Afrin.
  • Government forces now control Achrafieh, Sheikh Maqsoud and Bani Zeid after clashes that erupted on Jan. 6 when an SDF integration plan stalled.
  • Hundreds of Kurdish fighters evacuated the contested Aleppo areas to SDF-held northeastern Syria under a negotiated arrangement.
  • Security crews are demining streets, clearing wreckage and inspecting tunnels, as casualty counts diverge between state authorities and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.