Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
The Syrian government attack on Kurdish forces in the northern city of Aleppo has shown that even more than a year after the fall of the regime of former president Bashar al-Assad, ethnic and sectarian violence is still raging in Syria.
The attack began on January 4, as a direct result of the failure to implement the integration agreement signed by both sides in March of last year.
The government has sought to use the agreement to very much dismantle the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), reducing its structure to three divisions under the complete control of its defense ministry. The Kurdish-led group refused, and the attack on the Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh was the response.
Fighters from the SDF’s security forces, Asayish, put on fierce resistance in their neighborhoods in the face of tens of thousands of government troops, but the battle came to an end on January 11, with the last of them withdrawing under an agreement imposed by the government.
Syrian state media was keen on presenting the attack as a “limited law enforcement operation” and promoting the discipline of government troops, who in March committed a series of massacres against the Alawite community on the coast, killing over 1,400 civilians, and later in July did the exact same against the Druze community in al-Suwayda in a battle that claimed the lives of more than 3,000 people.
Despite these efforts, as the result of the battle became clear on January 10, evidence of gross human violations began to emerge online.
In one video that emerged on that day, government fighters are seen throwing a female Kurdish fighter from the balcony of a damaged building in Sheikh Maqsoud.
More videos came up, showing possibly hundreds -at least 300 according to a report by AFP- of Kurds, including women and children, detained by government troops, who were insulting them, calling them “pigs” and “atheists,” and even threatening them with violence. The SDF confirmed that at least dozens of detailed men disappeared after being separated from their families. The government ignored the whole thing.
The fate of at least one of the men became known soon after. He was apparently shot in the eye by government troops, who also attempted to take his heart out while he was still alive.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
Another video shows government troops dragging out the dead body of a dead man from a vehicle with other captives in what appears to be a remote area. The footage has not been verified yet, but it is claimed that the captives, all Kurds, were taken to be executed.
One more video from Sheikh Maqsoud shows several dead bodies burning inside what looks like a house. Pro-government media said that the bodies belonged to Kurdish fighters who were killed in a clash with government forces, but Kurdish activists said that 13 civilians were rounded up in that house, executed, then set on fire by troops.
Taking into account these violations, it can be assumed that most of the Kurds who left Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh -More than 150,000 people were reportedly displaced from the two neighborhoods during the battle- will not be returning any time soon. Thus, the two neighborhoods may have been subject to a form of ethnic cleansing, even if this was not the intention of the government.
The battle against the SDF in Aleppo city didn’t mark some transition from sectarian violence -seen against Alawites on the coast and the Druze in al-Suwayda- to ethnic violence against the Kurds -who are Sunnis like the majority of Syrians-, as the first form of violence persisted before and during the battle.
In the weeks leading to the battle, government forces carried out a series of arrests in Alawite areas on the coast, as well as in Hama and Homs in central Syria. Dozens, including religious scholars and activists, were arrested over participating in a series of protests in December. At least one died in custody, with activists claiming he was tortured to death.
Mohamad Mahmoud Ali, reportedly tortured to death after being arrested by government forces. Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
Nearly all of them were accused of “inciting violence” and “distorting civil peace,” a charge that the new government kept from the Assad era.
The arrests encouraged a new wave of violence against the community, which became very apparent on January 9 when four Alawite medical workers, including a woman, were shot and killed in a well-planned attack outside al-Kindi Hospital in Homs city. As usual, the crime was completely ignored by the government, which didn’t even announce an investigation.
Also during the battle in Aleppo, government forces stepped up their attacks on Druze fighters in al-Suwayda, killing at least one on January 9.
Violence against members of the community who opted to trust the government and continue to live outside al-Suwayda, also inflamed. The decapitated body of a Druze man was found in a dumpster in the government-controlled area of Jaramana near Damascus on January 7. No investigation was announced by the government and state media ignored the horrific crime.
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
Click to see full-size image. (Telegram)
All recent developments, from the battle in Aleppo to the recent acts of violence against Alawites and Druze, goes to show that the government, which continues to be dominated by Sunni Islamists, has made no progress whatsoever into ending ethnic and sectarian tensions in the country.
In some cases, it can be even argued that the government, namely its media, is fueling these tensions by promoting the minorities as some threat to keep the support of the Sunni majority.
All while this is taking place, the government continues to make concessions to Israel in direct talks mediated by the United States.
It was for sure no surprise that the battle in Aleppo broke out as the government accepted a U.S.-proposed security coordination mechanism that would grant Israel complete military and economic influence over the entirety of southern Syria, which is largely Sunni.
With no clear intention to engage in any honest talks with the SDF, or even the Alawites or Druze, the government appears to be heading to a major battle with the Kurds. With that battle, ethnic and sectarian violence will likely rise even further all over Syria.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
death to khameini.
down with the iranian dictator
im sorry to hear your gay jewish backed protests in iran are fizzling out
pahl avi would not solve anything because he would certainly be in c ahoots with er d og an, putler an d dump, who are war crim ina ls, hu n ters of fore ig n ter rit ory and ge n ocid al man iac s. so i think it ma kes no difference whether pa hlavi takes over ira n or not. but if is ra el wants the lea dership of iran, it will have to take it wiht po wer. the tra itor put ler will do noth ing.
b ut he w ill st art a cr y if rez a (a fter taki ng po wer) sends troo ps to help uk rai ne.
but if the pahlavis wanted to get iran into nato, just as the kazakhs and ukrainians want to get their countries into nato.
putler would be sorry that he betrayed syria and thus got iran into nato.
recent months saw a large u.s. military build up in the caribbean, with socom deploying assists in puerto rico and near trinidad and tobago…………………………… https://psee.io/8jqu9r
death to the khameini. death to the pedophile iranian dicktator. death to all islamic nazi terrorists including you
you’ve lost the plot sh*thead
just like the hundreds of inbred provocateurs caught in iran will be losing their ‘plots’, and probably some body parts with it 😄
pahlavi is an idiot and the son of an even bigger idiot. his sister stupidly killed herself with pills. instead of waiting for some pig like putler in a foreign country and trying to shoot him.
mr poots has got under your skin.
settle down.
wrong. the main traitor to syria is putler, the son of a one-eyed, ugly jewish old witch.
he was born to a one-eyed jewish sow whose eye was gouged out by her boyfriend with a fork. he took her to be his wife anyway.
putler is a prostitute and i’ll give a thousand euros if someone shoots her.
ht tps://ww w.globalrese arch.ca/silent-geno cide-eth nic-clean sing-takin g-plac e-righ t-now -in-syr ia/58 858 63
putler is the one who should be killed and overthrown.
putler will be next after the iranian dicktator. death to khameini. death to the dictator.
they need an american lifestyle. as an alternative.
will jewlani actually do something about israeli incursions into syria? he is being blackmailed by amerikunt sanctions waivers
i hope the republicans will be disgusted when they see what trump did to the kurds. and the democrats will take over both congress and the senate.
that the shame for maga will be so great that maga will be dead and buried forever.
https://www.syriahr.com/en/376260/
mass arrests and systematic humiliation amid international silence and media complicity
published january 11, 2026
share
aleppo governorate: in a scene that exposes the utter falsehood of all claims, forces affiliated with the interim government arrested at least 300 civilians from the sheikh maqsoud neighborhood in degrading and inhumane conditions. this occurred amidst a deliberate media blackout in which pro-government arab media played a complicit role
through their silence, just as happened in the coastal region and suwaida. this has opened the door wide for the continuation of crimes in aleppo without accountability or investigation.
where is the international community?
has it witnessed the blatant violations in sheikh maqsoud? or is it content with a fabricated image of a “government supported by the west and some arab states” that claims to defend a people being led into the unknown?
in this context, a video obtained by the syrian observatory for human rights revealed a glimpse of the grim reality experienced by civilians at the hands of armed groups affiliated with government forces in the sheikh maqsoud neighborhood. the video reveals egregious verbal abuse, with members deliberately humiliating civilians with vulgar and racist language, labeling them “
pigs,” “dogs,” and “qandilists,” in a blatant act of incitement targeting kurds.
the footage shows civilians being herded against a wall in the neighborhood, left to await their fate, which remains unknown.
according to the syrian observatory for human rights, after seizing control of the sheikh maqsoud and ashrafieh neighborhoods, the forces began arresting men, while the fate of women and children remains unknown.
the syrian observatory also documented dozens of missing persons in recent hours, amid urgent demands from their families for the immediate disclosure of the fate of the detainees and missing persons, including women and children, as families live in unprecedented fear and panic. what is happening is not isolated incidents, but systematic violations that paint a very cruel humanitarian picture in the sheikh maqsoud and ashrafieh neighborhoods, amid a shameful absence
of any international intervention, and a silence that amounts to complicity in the face of crimes committed in broad daylight against defenseless civilians.
i want traitorous russia and maga to be destroyed forever.
https://w ww.globa lresea rch.ca/si lent-gen ocide-et hnic-clean sing-tak ing-place-rig ht-no w-in-s yria/588 586 3
will it possible for the kurds to latch onto someone less terrible and treacherous than maga and putler? it’s over with the alawites and christians anyway.
trump and putin are dirty merchants of human blood.
se restavano i russi tutto questo è altro non succedeva gli americani dovevano tenere al guinzaglio turchia è israele, le religioni non possono governare gli stati ricordate le crociate la caccia alle streghe ecc.
the kurds pay the price now for not associating with assad forces. this could have changed syrian history. sectarian fighting always means easy game for the enemy. hts will probably eradicate all religious groups one by one after ethnically cleansing the kurds.
terrorist savages behaving like terrorist savages??? who could have predicted this!? xd