Damascus, Jan.8 (SANA) Minister of Information Hamza al-Mustafa affirmed that the security measures taken by the Syrian state in the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods of Aleppo came in response to the serious escalation by the SDF organization, which targeted civilian facilities and resulted in the death and injury of several civilians, most of them women and children.
Minister al-Mustafa explained in an interview with Al Jazeera on Wednesday that the Syrian Arab Army is responding to the sources of fire launched by armed groups from the two neighborhoods against civilians.
The government has taken measures around the neighborhoods to protect civilians, stressing that enforcing security and stability is the responsibility of the state, he noted.
Al-Mustafa pointed out that the SDF organization began its escalation immediately after the conclusion of a round of negotiations in Damascus, targeting Syrian Arab Army forces in Deir Hafer with drones. The escalation then extended into the two neighborhoods in Aleppo, after which the group issued a statement claiming that these armed factions were not affiliated with it.
The Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods are subject to the April 1 agreement, which followed the March 10 agreement. He emphasized the need to distinguish between the March 10 agreement, which outlines the potential integration of SDF organization structures into the Syrian state, and the April 1 agreement, which specifically addresses a security and political settlement for the two neighborhoods, Al-Mustafa clarified.
He explained that the agreement stipulates the withdrawal of the SDF organisation, the handover of its heavy weapons, and the transfer of administration of the neighborhoods to the Syrian state’s police and local authorities. However, the SDF organization did not carry out the withdrawal and continued to use artillery and heavy weapons, violating the agreement more than a hundred times over the past year.
Aleppo, a vital and industrial city, cannot remain under daily threats to the lives of its citizens and economic activities. He called for the implementation of the April 1 agreement to restore stability to the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhoods and to end the ongoing security drain and daily attacks in the city, the Minister of Information stressed.
Al-Mustafa concluded by affirming that the Syrian government remains open to political and peaceful solutions, but only within the three main pillars of Syrian policy: “One country, one government, and one army.”
MHD
