According to recent reports, images and videos shared by political commentators on social media, Kurdish-led forces have taken control of villages and checkpoints between Aleppo (Heleb) and Al-Shahba (Şehba) in north-eastern Syria following the withdrawal of Syrian regime forces after attacks by the Islamist group Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
According to Kurdish journalist Scharo Maroof, the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) now control Aleppo International Airport and the towns of Deir Hafir, Tal Arn and Maskanah in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. A Syrian Observatory For Human Rights (SOHR) report confirmed that Kurdish forces have been deployed in Aleppo International Airport.
Safe to share now – YPG taking control over Aleppo airport and the villages + cities south of Aleppo. https://t.co/evCg0KPptU pic.twitter.com/hfDAKoYvjY
— ScharoMaroof (@ScharoMaroof) November 30, 2024
Maroof commented that Kurdish-led forces are expanding their control over areas between Aleppo and Manbij (Minbic), a city in the western region of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), “essentially creating a Kurdish corridor to Aleppo”.
The AANES has reported that at least 2,892 people fleeing Aleppo have reached north-eastern Syria so far.
Meanwhile, the number of civilians and fighters killed in the Idlib and Aleppo countryside since 27 November has risen to 301, including 31 civilians, according to a recent report by the SOHR.
