ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The ongoing siege on two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Syria’s northern city of Aleppo has severely disrupted daily life, with a senior official saying the areas are suffering a complete power blackout, schools have been shut down, and residents face mistreatment by state security forces.
Late last month, clashes broke out between Damascus-affiliated forces and Kurdish internal security forces (Asayish) in the Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo city. Despite a ceasefire, a partial siege on the quarters continues.
Nouri Sheikho, co-chair of the civilian council administering both neighborhoods, told Rudaw on Saturday that the siege has severely affected daily life, noting that only two of the seven access points connecting the areas to the rest of the city remain open, where security forces frequently mistreat residents at checkpoints.
“The siege is still ongoing, and due to the severe cold, we were forced to suspend schools,” he said, adding that many residents have fallen ill due to the weather and that a shortage of medicine has put lives at risk.
Sheikho said the power grid has been severely damaged by a series of clashes between both forces, causing a complete blackout. “We contacted them [Syrian authorities] several times so that we could repair it, but they refused. This is a political objective to force the people to retreat further… They do not allow fuel to pass through and say that the [Kurdish] military forces use it for themselves.