Aleppo’s residents caught between hope and fear amid Syria fighting

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

Al Jazeera’s Resul Serdar Atas recounts scenes from Aleppo amid escalating clashes betwixt the Syrian service and SDF forces.

I arrived successful Aleppo aboriginal connected Wednesday greeting aft receiving reports of superior clashes betwixt the Syrian service and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). What I encountered was acold worse than I expected.

Heavy artillery shelling was constant, extreme. My squad came nether onslaught 4 times; 1 slug deed our equipment.

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This circular of clashes, we rapidly understood, would not beryllium easy contained similar earlier bouts implicit the past year.

The basal of the struggle is the government’s request for the SDF, which has tens of thousands of troops, to integrate into authorities institutions, arsenic per an agreement reached betwixt the 2 sides past March. But determination are galore disputes implicit however that should happen, including the fig of SDF troops that volition articulation the army.

‘Overwhelming consciousness of despair’

Fighting has centred successful heavy populated parts of Aleppo, specifically the districts of Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud. In total, these areas person astir 400,000 inhabitants. Within 24 hours of warring erupting, 160,000 fled their homes. It was similar an exodus.

On Thursday, erstwhile the warring peaked, radical struggled to marque their mode done the streets without being caught successful the crossfire. Children screamed and cried successful panic. Families held each other’s hands and apparel successful bid to not suffer way of each other.

Residents transportation their belongings arsenic they fly Aleppo’s Ashrafieh neighbourhood, connected January 7, 2026 [Bakr Alkasem/AFP]

One aged antheral said helium had seen capable aft astir 15 years of civilian strife: “May God instrumentality my psyche truthful I tin rest,” helium said.

An aged woman, hardly capable to walk, fell to the crushed amid the assemblage and respective radical trampled implicit her. I saw her lad interruption into tears arsenic helium tried to propulsion her from the ground.

The past clip I saw scenes similar this was successful 2014, erstwhile ISIL (ISIS) attacked Syria’s Kurdish-majority municipality of Kobane. There was an overwhelming consciousness of despair, helplessness, and a feeling that everything was ending.

Short-lived ceasefire

On Friday, the warring parties agreed to a greeting ceasefire and the SDF enactment agreed its fighters would laic down their dense weapons and permission the area. However, erstwhile buses arrived to instrumentality them, much warring broke out. When the buses came backmost later, the aforesaid happening happened. Our sources told america this was owed to divisions wrong the SDF, with much extremist factions resisting the calls to laic down their arms.

The backmost and distant ended with the Syrian authorities mounting a deadline of 6pm (15:00 GMT) connected Friday for remaining civilians to flee, aft which it would restart subject operations against SDF targets. Heavy warring has since resumed successful Sheikh Maqsoud.

The government, cautious to debar the cognition of demographic engineering, has said that erstwhile it clears the country of SDF fighters, everyone volition beryllium capable to travel home. It has stressed that this is not a combat betwixt Arabs and Kurds, but betwixt authorities forces and a non-state force.

Meanwhile, radical from Aleppo are sitting betwixt anticipation and fear. On the 1 hand, they anticipation an statement is yet reached betwixt the SDF and Syrian service truthful they tin instrumentality to their homes. But connected the different hand, aft 15 years of civilian war, they fearfulness that past could beryllium repeating itself.