Aleppo Kurdish evacuees arrive in Qamishli after withdrawal deal
Shafaq News– Qamishli
Thousands of residents in northeastern Syria welcomed a convoy of civilians and wounded arrivals from Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhoods on Monday, following an agreement that led to the withdrawal of remaining Asayish (internal security) forces and their families from the city.
Shafaq News correspondent said the convoy, carrying hundreds of people, arrived first in Hasakah, where the wounded were transferred to hospitals, while displaced civilians were moved to temporary shelters in both Hasakah and Qamishli. Large crowds gathered to receive the convoy, raising banners condemning the recent assault on Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods and waving flags of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Asayish.
Several evacuees voiced fears over those left behind. “Hundreds left the neighborhood in two batches under an agreement with the Syrian government, but the fate of many residents and fighters remains unknown,” said Sitara Nabi, a displaced woman from Sheikh Maqsoud. She said dozens were detained during the evacuation, while contact was lost with others.
Nabi, who was previously displaced from Afrin during Turkiye’s 2018 offensive, said she had resettled in Sheikh Maqsoud before being forced to flee again. She expressed deep concern about returning home, saying residents no longer felt safe under the current conditions.
Another evacuee, Sido Sheikho, who fled Ashrafieh at the start of the fighting, told Shafaq News upon arriving in Qamishli that communications had been cut with hundreds of families from Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh, and Bani Zaid. He claimed that more than 300,000 people had been displaced from areas formerly controlled by the Asayish in recent days, with civilians still barred from returning.
Sheikho urged the United Nations and international organizations to provide urgent humanitarian assistance and to guarantee the safe return of displaced families, alleging that Syrian authorities separated men and young males from their families during the evacuation and took them to unknown locations.
The developments come amid conflicting casualty accounts. Aleppo’s Health Directorate said 24 people were killed and 129 wounded in attacks on residential areas since Tuesday, attributing the strikes to the SDF. SDF-affiliated media reported that at least 10 civilians, including four women and two children, were killed in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh by Syrian government artillery and air strikes. No official figures have been released for Asayish casualties.
The SDF has denied initiating the fighting, saying its forces acted in “legitimate self-defense” against attempts to storm the neighborhoods.
