Kurdish Councils Reject Evacuation as Damascus Orders Aleppo Withdrawal

Syria’s Defense Ministry announced a ceasefire early on Jan. 9 that it said took effect at 3 a.m. in three contested Aleppo neighbourhoods — Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh (also spelled Ashrafiyah) and Bani Zaid — and set a six-hour window for armed groups to withdraw. State authorities said departing fighters would be permitted to carry their “personal light weapons” and would be escorted to Syria’s northeast, territory controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.

Local Kurdish councils that administer Sheikh Maqsoud and Achrafiyah publicly rejected the evacuation demand, calling calls to leave Aleppo “a call to surrender” and vowing their forces and local authorities “would instead defend their neighbourhoods.” Another council statement said, “We will not accept the pressures imposed on us and the calls for surrender.” The SDF did not issue an immediate formal position on the ceasefire, but Kurdish leaders have warned that evacuation warnings ahead of shelling could amount to forced displacement and constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law.

On the ground, plans to transport fighters to the northeast stalled. Buses assembled to carry people away remained empty hours after the deadline and state television later reported the buses withdrew without transporting anyone. Journalists in the city reported a burst of machine-gun fire and an artillery shell landing near the road where evacuation buses were approaching, though calm returned swiftly. Syrian security forces and Interior Ministry-affiliated units were reported standing guard in Achrafiyah; the Interior Ministry said its forces had taken control of that neighbourhood. Aleppo Governor Azzam al-Gharib toured the contested districts overnight escorted by security personnel.

The ceasefire and the failed evacuation order come amid a wave of fighting that has already displaced more than 140,000 people; some tallies put the figure at about 142,000. Journalists documented heavy damage in contested areas, with rubble and shell marks concentrated in Achrafiyah. Humanitarian workers say rapid displacement has strained shelter, medical and food delivery systems, compounding winter needs and stretching the budgets of both international agencies and regional relief partners.

Regional leaders reacted quickly. Masrour Barzani, prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, said he was “deeply concerned” by attacks on Kurdish neighbourhoods and warned that targeting civilians and attempts to alter the area’s demography amounted to what he described as ethnic cleansing. U.S. envoy for Syria Tom Barrack welcomed the “temporary ceasefire” on X and said Washington was working intensively to extend it beyond the 9 a.m. deadline, expressing hope for a more enduring calm and deeper dialogue.

Beyond the immediate humanitarian emergency, the episode underscores deeper political and economic consequences. Kurdish-led administrations established semi-autonomous control in parts of Aleppo and in the northeast during Syria’s 14-year war, and they have resisted integration into the Islamist-led government that replaced Bashar al-Assad in late 2024. Continued contestation of territory increases legal scrutiny of displacement practices, deters reconstruction investment and prolongs interruption of commerce in a city that before the war was Syria’s economic hub. If prolonged, renewed fighting could prompt new refugee flows, raise reconstruction costs by billions, and harden demographic changes that shape property rights and market expectations for years to come.