Syrian security forces facilitate defection of 100 SDF members in Aleppo

By Murat Basoglu, Laith Al-Jnaidi and Mohammad Sio

ISTANBUL (AA) – Syrian internal security forces have facilitated the defection of 100 members of the terrorist organization YPG/SDF in the northern city of Aleppo, a security source told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Friday evening.

The development comes as SDF-controlled areas continue to shrink in Aleppo, after government forces pushed the group out of the Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid neighborhoods, leaving its presence confined to Sheikh Maqsoud.

SANA, citing an unnamed security source, said the number of SDF members who defected and were secured by internal security forces in Aleppo has risen to 100, up from 20 earlier in the day.

On Friday evening, the Syrian Army imposed a full curfew in Sheikh Maqsoud, declaring the neighborhood a “closed military zone.”

Earlier in the day, the army announced the opening of a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave Sheikh Maqsoud for other parts of Aleppo while urging SDF fighters to lay down their arms.

Meanwhile, the army identified locations inside Sheikh Maqsoud that it said would be targeted, saying the SDF had turned them into military headquarters and firing positions used to launch attacks on Aleppo neighborhoods, according to Alikhbariya channel.

Fighting in Aleppo erupted on Tuesday when the SDF launched attacks from Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud on residential areas, civilian facilities, and army positions, killing nine people and wounding 55 others, and displacing about 165,000 residents from the two neighborhoods, according to the latest official figures.

In response, the Syrian Army launched a “limited” military operation on Thursday, regaining control of Ashrafieh and Bani Zeid. By Friday evening, Sheikh Maqsoud remained the only neighborhood outside state control.

On March 10, 2025, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement for the SDF’s integration into state institutions, reaffirming the country's territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.

Authorities said in the months since, the SDF has not shown any efforts to meet the terms of the agreement.

The government has intensified efforts to maintain security across the country since the ouster of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December 2024, after 24 years in power.