23 civilians killed in Aleppo clashes as authorities claim takeover of Kurdish-held neighborhood

DAMASCUS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- The number of civilians killed in attacks on residential neighborhoods in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo has risen to 23, with at least 104 others wounded since Tuesday, local health authorities said on Saturday, as government forces began entering the last of the city's Kurdish-majority districts after days of clashes.

Munir al-Mohammad, media director of Aleppo's Health Directorate, told the state-run SANA news agency that the casualties resulted from attacks attributed to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) targeting residential areas from Tuesday until 5:00 p.m. local time (1400 GMT) on Saturday.

He said the victims included one child and four women, as well as a dentistry student who was killed by sniper fire. He added that most of the wounded are women and children, with several in critical condition and at risk of dying at any moment.

Earlier on Saturday, four civilians were wounded after suicide drones launched by the SDF struck residential areas in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, including one drone that hit the city's government headquarters building, SANA reported.

The drone attack targeted several neighborhoods, causing injuries and material damage, as security operations continued in the city following days of intense clashes in the Kurdish-majority districts of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, according to SANA.

The incident came hours after Syrian authorities confirmed that government forces had entered the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, a day after taking control of the adjacent Ashrafieh district. The two neighborhoods had remained under Kurdish-led control since 2012 and were the last such areas in Aleppo outside direct state authority.

State television Al-Ikhbariya reported that Interior Ministry buses transported SDF fighters who had declared their surrender from Yassin Hospital in Sheikh Maqsoud to the city of Tabqa in northern Raqqa province.

In a statement, Syria's Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it described as "terrorist" drone attacks on government buildings and residential neighborhoods in Aleppo, saying the escalation endangered civilian lives and violated all existing security understandings.

The latest developments follow the collapse of earlier security agreements reached in April 2025 aimed at ending all non-state military presence in the two neighborhoods, part of a broader process to integrate Kurdish-led forces into state institutions under a March 2025 agreement. Repeated violations and renewed violence, however, have stalled implementation and fueled fresh confrontations in Aleppo. ■