A Kurdish-majority neighbourhood in Aleppo has seen a swift return of residents a month after clashes between government forces and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Most of the tens of thousands who fled the fighting have come back, marking an unusually quick recovery in a country where conflict often leaves people displaced for years.
“Ninety percent of the people have come back,” said Aaliya Jaafar, a Kurdish resident and hair salon owner. “And they didn’t take long. This was maybe the shortest displacement in Syria.” Her family briefly left after a drone strike hit a nearby weapons storage site.
The clashes began on 6 January in the predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after talks stalled over integrating the SDF into the national army. At least 23 people were killed and more than 140,000 displaced. However, the new government opened corridors for civilians to flee before entering, avoiding the sectarian revenge attacks seen elsewhere.
Ali Sheikh Ahmad, a former SDF-affiliated police officer now running a secondhand shop, said residents initially feared reprisals after Kurdish forces withdrew. “We didn’t have any serious problems like what happened on the coast or in Sweida,” he said. “The new security forces treated us well.” Jaafar agreed, noting that government forces “didn’t harm anyone” and restored security.
Shops have reopened and traffic flows normally, though checkpoints are now manned by government forces. Residents, both Kurds and Arabs, interact peacefully. Children play in the streets, some with surgical staplers from a hospital that was targeted during the fighting. The government accused the SDF of using the hospital militarily; the SDF said it was sheltering civilians.
While security has improved, the economic situation has worsened. Many residents lost jobs with SDF-affiliated authorities, and businesses suffered from disrupted services. “The economic situation has really deteriorated,” Jaafar said. “For more than a month, we've barely worked at all.” Despite this, Sheikh Ahmad expressed hope that if the ceasefire holds and the political situation stabilises, conditions will improve.
