Aleppo neighbourhoods now 'big prisons' as tightened Syria regime siege takes toll

Residents of Kurdish-controlled areas in the northern Syria province of Aleppo say their neighbourhoods have turned into "prisons" as the regime persists with a siege.

The Syrian regime's Fourth Division tightened an existing siege on Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh – the only two neighbourhoods in the area under the control of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces – in mid-December, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Monday.

The regime forces installed new checkpoints and, over the course of the month, have severely restricted the flow of food, fuel and medicines to the neighbourhoods, residents said.

"They are trying to put us in a big prison in which they can control us, in terms of food, drink and medicine," one resident of the Ashrafieh neighborhood told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

Residents also complained of mistreatment at the checkpoints, saying regime forces take fees for entry and exit while hurling insults.

The Fourth Division of the Syrian regime army began besieging the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in March 2020.

Local statistics indicate that about 25,000 civilians live in the two areas.

It is widely believed that the regime has imposed the siege to turn the population against the SDF and pressure Kurdish-led authorities to hand the neighbourhoods over to the regime.