Rasa Evrensel and Mohammad Sio
11 January 2026•Update: 12 January 2026
- Large stockpiles of mines, rockets and explosives discovered during security sweeps after SDF fighters were expelled from area
ISTANBUL
Syria’s Interior Ministry said on Sunday that its teams had dismantled explosive devices planted by the terrorist organization YPG/SDF inside homes and along streets in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo, describing them as “prepared for terrorist use.”
A ministry statement said specialized teams conducting security sweeps in the area neutralized several explosive materials, including a vehicle rigged with mortar shells and a large number of suicide drones found inside civilian homes.
The teams also dismantled improvised explosive devices planted inside houses and on the edges of streets by SDF militants, it added.
The ministry said teams detected a booby-trapped rocket during field operations and handled it in line with approved technical procedures to ensure safe disposal.
The explosives and suicide drones were transferred to secure locations, while the booby-trapped rocket was detonated under direct supervision without causing casualties or material damage, it added.
The ministry said internal security units in Aleppo uncovered “large warehouses containing significant quantities of assorted weapons belonging to the SDF during field security sweep operations in the Sheikh Maqsoud.”
The seized items included landmines, improvised explosive devices, rockets, shells and grenades, as well as large and varied quantities of ammunition, the statement said, describing the cache as “a direct threat to public security and civilian safety.”
Since Tuesday, the SDF has shelled residential neighborhoods, civilian facilities, and Syrian Army positions in Aleppo, killing 24 people, wounding nearly 130, and displacing about 165,000 residents from the Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud districts, according to official figures.
In March 2025, the Syrian presidency announced the signing of an agreement for the SDF’s integration into state institutions, reaffirming the country's territorial unity and rejecting any attempts at division.
In April 2025, Syrian authorities signed an agreement with the SDF concerning the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, stipulating that both districts would be considered administrative parts of the city of Aleppo while respecting their local particularities.
The agreement also included provisions to ban armed manifestations, restrict weapons to internal security forces, and require the withdrawal of SDF military forces to areas east of the Euphrates River in northeastern Syria.
But authorities said that in the months since, the SDF has not shown any efforts to meet the terms of the agreements.
The Syrian government has intensified efforts to maintain security across the country since the ouster of the Assad regime in December 2024, after 24 years in power.
