YPG terrorists killed civilians in Aleppo, Damascus responded with 'defined operation': Syria

At least 23 civilians were killed and 104 others wounded in attacks by the YPG terrorist organisation on residential neighbourhoods in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo since Tuesday, a local health official has said.

Mounir al-Mohammad, media director at Aleppo’s Health Directorate, told the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) on Saturday that the casualties resulted from YPG shelling of civilian areas.

The dead included a child and four women, he added, noting that one of the fatalities was a dentistry student killed by sniper fire.

He said that most of the wounded were women and children, with many in critical condition.

YPG is the Syrian branch of the terror group PKK.

In its terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Türkiye, the US and the EU, has been responsible for the deaths of over 40,000 people, including women, children, infants, and the elderly.

Law-enforcement measure

Meanwhile, the Syrian government has said that its security operation in parts of Aleppo against the terrorist organisation YPG was “a limited law-enforcement measure” aimed at “preventing the use of Syrian territory for activities that threaten regional security.”

A Foreign Ministry statement said the government conducted “a narrowly defined operation” in the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighbourhoods to restore public order and protect civilians following repeated “violations” of security arrangements previously agreed with the YPG.

The ministry said security agreements reached in April 2025 were intended to end all non-state military activity in the two neighbourhoods, but later collapsed due to repeated breaches by the YPG.

Damascus stressed that “the intervention was not a military campaign, did not involve demographic change, or target any group on ethnic or religious grounds.”

The measures “were directed solely at armed groups operating outside agreed security frameworks,” the ministry said, accusing those groups of serious violations, including the recruitment of minors.

According to the statement, the government prioritised civilian protection by establishing advanced response points and opening safe humanitarian corridors in coordination with humanitarian organisations.

Restoring normal civilian life

Authorities will begin surveying affected areas and clearing unexploded ordnance as a first step towards restoring normal civilian life, it said.

The ministry said the measures “were based on the principles of necessity and proportionality, emphasising that the Kurdish community “is an integral part of Aleppo’s social fabric and active partners in national institutions”.

It said restoring the state’s exclusive authority over weapons is essential for stability, advancing the political process and “preventing Syrian territory from being used as a platform for armed activities that threaten regional security”.

The Foreign Ministry also expressed gratitude to Türkiye, the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, and the UK, as well as Iraqi Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, for their “constructive role in supporting Syria’s stability and territorial unity”.

Last March 10, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement for the YPG’s integration into state institutions, reaffirming the country's territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.

But authorities said that in the months since, the YPG has not shown any efforts to meet the terms of the agreement.

___

Source: TRT