Initial fighting near the Alleramoon roundabout – on the western outskirts of the historic city – spread to the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Ash-Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, with shelling also affecting surrounding government-controlled areas.
Significant damage to housing and public infrastructure, including healthcare, has been reported. At least three major hospitals have ceased operations, while flights in and out of Aleppo international airport have also been suspended since Tuesday.
Protect civilians and reduce tension now
The Secretary-General is alarmed by reports of civilian deaths and injuries after hostilities escalated earlier this week in the city’s northeastern neighborhoods, U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters in New York on Wednesday.
“The United Nations reiterates that all parties have a clear obligation under international humanitarian law to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure.”he said, urging all actors to “immediately reduce tension, exercise maximum restraint and take action.” all measures to prevent further harm to civilians.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that approximately 30,000 people have been displaced, more than 2,000 families have moved to the Afrin district and around 1,100 people have taken refuge in nine collective centers within Aleppo.
Thousands more fled Ashrafiyeh and Ash-Sheikh Maqsoud on Wednesday seeking refuge in host communities.
Local authorities have designated some places of worship as temporary shelters, opened humanitarian corridors to allow civilians to evacuate, and mobilized public buses to transport displaced families.
Drone images of the city of Latamneh in Hama, which was completely destroyed during the conflict. Mines and unexploded ordnance remain scattered in the area, posing a deadly risk to civilians, especially children.
They push to reactivate the March agreement
The Secretary-General called on all parties to demonstrate flexibility and goodwill both militarily and politically and to resume negotiations to fully implement the March 10 agreement between the two parties.
When asked what concrete measures were necessary, Dujarric said an agreement between the government and the SDF to place security forces under a unified national command would be a key measure.highlighting the need for a state in which “all Syrians…feel safe and protected.”
The latest violence comes amid an uneasy transition following the fall of Assad’s government in December 2024.
Since then, outbreaks of violence in several parts of the country – including new sectarian attacks targeting predominantly Alawite coastal areas and Druze communities in Sweida and other governorates – have led to new displacement and deepened fears among Syrians still recovering from nearly 14 years of war.
Worsening humanitarian conditions
Millions of Syrians remain dependent on aid and many are forced to spend another winter in tents or damaged homes.
According to OCHA, severe snowstorms that hit northern Syria in late December affected around 158,000 internally displaced people in the governorates of Aleppo, Idlib and Al-Hasakeh.
Two children died from extreme cold in displaced persons camps in northern Idlib, while thousands of shelters were damaged, leaving families exposed to freezing temperatures.
OCHA warned that without rapid scaling up, health risks – especially for children, older people and people with chronic illnesses – will continue to increase, even as insecurity further limits access and delivery of aid.