Syrian army declares Kurdish-held area east of Aleppo "military zones" amid rising tensions

DAMASCUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Syria's army declared on Tuesday the Kurdish-held areas of Deir Hafir and Maskanah east of Aleppo in northern Syria as "closed military zones," warning civilians to stay away as it moves to prevent what it described as renewed armed activity by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and its allied groups.

In a warning broadcast by state television Al-Ikhbariya and accompanied by a map, the Operations Command of the Syrian Arab Army said all armed groups in the designated areas must withdraw east of the Euphrates River "to preserve their lives," adding that the zones are now considered off-limits for security reasons.

The command said the decision followed continued mobilization by the SDF alongside fighters from the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and what it called remnants of the former Syrian administration, describing the area as a launch point for suicide drones that recently struck Aleppo.

It added that the army would take "all necessary measures" to prevent the use of Deir Hafir and Maskanah as bases for attacks.

A day earlier, the army said it had detected the arrival of additional armed groups, including PKK-linked fighters, at SDF positions near Maskanah and Deir Hafir, warning that any military movement would be met with a "forceful response."

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that Syrian interim government forces shelled the Umm al-Tina bridge in Deir Hafir after the military zone was announced, damaging the structure and prompting a wave of civilian displacement toward the cities of Raqqa and Tabqa.

The monitor also said the SDF carried out heavy rocket fire on the Kuwaires military airbase in eastern Aleppo, triggering heightened alert inside the base as the interim government's military reinforcements were dispatched to nearby fronts. The claims could not be independently verified.

The escalation in eastern Aleppo comes days after intense fighting and security operations in Aleppo city's Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, the last Kurdish-controlled districts in the city since 2012. Syrian interim government forces moved into the two areas following days of clashes, drone attacks and shelling that killed dozens of civilians and wounded more than 100, according to health authorities.

The government has described its actions in those neighborhoods as a limited "law-enforcement operation" aimed at ending non-state armed presence and restoring state authority, while the SDF has accused Damascus of "indiscriminate shelling and targeting civilians." ■