Sovereignty Support Movement Sovereignty for West Asia
from the News Desk at The Cradle, January 9, 2026
Editor’s Note: Sad to say, neither of these organizations represents the Syrian people. Yes, the Kurds aren’t as deeply violent as Jolani’s crew, but they are just as avaricious and power hungry. In any case, they are fighting it out in the midst of a crowded city full of civilians.
Kurdish factions in Aleppo say they fear government troops will massacre civilians if they withdraw, as government troops massacred Alawite civilians in the coastal areas of the country in March
Internal Kurdish security forces in Aleppo have rejected demands to leave the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of the Syrian city after government forces declared a temporary ceasefire overnight on 9 January.
The Ministry of Defense, under the leadership of former Al-Qaeda commander Murhaf Abu Qasra, issued a call for a temporary ceasefire amid ongoing clashes that started with a government assault on the Kurdish districts of Sheikh Maksoud and Ashrafiyah on Tuesday.
The ministry demanded that Kurdish fighters leave both neighborhoods by 9 am local time on Friday morning, the time scheduled for the ceasefire to end.
However, the Kurdish councils administering the neighborhoods rejected the demand, saying it was “I,” while affirming that Kurdish fighters would instead “defend their neighborhoods.”
“The densely populated Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood in Aleppo is under intense and sustained shelling by factions and militias affiliated with the Damascus government, using tanks, artillery, and heavy weapons in a broad attack targeting residential areas,” a statement from Kurdish officials in Aleppo said.
“Government militias are attempting to advance with tanks, while our forces continue to confront the attacks with fierce and ongoing resistance,” the statement added.
Kurdish fighters fear that if they withdraw, government forces will massacre Kurdish civilians, as they massacred Alawite civilians in the coastal areas of the country in March and Druze civilians in Suwayda governorate in Syria’s south in July.
#Aleppo | Sheikh Maqsoud Neighborhood: Entire Kurdish Family Killed
An entire family was killed on Thursday 08.01.2026 evening in Sheikh Maqsoud, Aleppo, as a result of indiscriminate shelling carried out by al-Jolani’s terrorist militias.
According to available information,… pic.twitter.com/pokg165hGK
— Syria Justice Archive (@SyJusticeArc) January 9, 2026
Internal Kurdish security forces known as Asayish have controlled the two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo since the start of the US and Israeli-backed war to topple Bashar al-Assad began in 2011.
Asayish forces affiliated with the People’s Protection Units (YPG) took control of the Kurdish neighborhoods to protect them as fighting erupted between opposition forces affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Syrian army of Assad’s government.
The Asayish established an autonomous zone resembling that later established in northeast Syria, administered by the US-backed and Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In December 2024, opposition forces comprised of Sunni extremists from Al-Qaeda and ISIS ousted Assad and took power in Damascus.
Syria’s new army, led by the ex-ISIS commander and self-proclaimed Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa, launched an attack on the Kurdish districts in Aleppo on Tuesday, just a day after Sharaa signed a security agreement with Israel.
The attacks are part of an effort to pressure SDF leaders to give up their autonomous region in northeast Syria, relinquish their weapons, and integrate their forces into Sharaa’s extremist-dominated army.
While rejecting calls to surrender on Friday, Asayish fighters in Aleppo released videos in which they vowed to defend Sheikh Maqsood until death amid ongoing government incursions.
They also issued calls for assistance from Kurdish forces in northeast Syria and Iraq.
“We call upon all parts of Kurdistan to support and stand with the resistance of the residents of the Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood,” stated Ziad Halab, commander of the Asayish Internal Security Forces in Aleppo.
Reuters reported on Friday that at least nine civilians have been killed in the fighting, while more than 140,000 have fled their homes in Sheikh Maqsoud and surrounding areas.
The number of government personnel and Kurdish fighters killed or injured in the fighting is unknown.
A Reuters reporter in Aleppo said more than a dozen empty buses had entered Sheikh Maksoud on Friday morning, which government sources said were expected to carry surrendering Kurdish fighters towards eastern parts of Syria held by the US-backed SDF.
But Kurdish fighters did not board the buses.
Tom Barrack, the US envoy for Syria, said that Washington was working intensively to extend the ceasefire beyond the 9 am deadline.
“We are hopeful this weekend will bring a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue,” he wrote on X.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Wednesday that he hoped the situation in Aleppo would be normalized “through the withdrawal of SDF elements.”
🚨 #Aleppo: The al-Jolani terrorist regime has announced its intent to bomb a civilian hospital in Aleppo. The Asayish have issued a statement in response
Among the locations the al-Jolani regime publicly declared it plans to target today in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood is… https://t.co/rUKkjhrAQl pic.twitter.com/YLIyhWXBGL
— Syria Justice Archive (@SyJusticeArc) January 9, 2026
Amid the fighting, Syrian government forces shelled the Khaled Fajr Hospital in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood after announcing their intent to bomb it on social media.
The Asayish said the government’s announcement “constitutes clear, documented evidence of premeditated criminal intent,” amounting to a “full-fledged war crime.”
