ALEPPO – For three years, the districts of Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêxmeqsûd) and Ashrafiyah (Eşrefiyê) in Aleppo have been under a heavy embargo imposed by the Syrian regime. The two districts are a thorn in Damascus’ side because they adhere to grassroots self-governance and self-defense structures, although access to fuel and flour in particular has become very difficult due to the embargo. The embargo has now become an existential threat to the more than one hundred thousand inhabitants of the neighborhoods. The two neighborhoods have a deep tradition of resistance and represented the crucial line of defense of Aleppo against the jihadist mercenary forces of the Erdoğan regime, which even used poison gas there under the eyes of the world public.
On Saturday, the Future Syria Party accused the Syrian government forces of starving civilians in two neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, indicating that such practices create strife and chaos. The checkpoints of the Fourth Division of the Syrian government forces are using starvation as a method of warfare against civilians in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods, Khalida Abdo, the head of the Aleppo Council in the Future Syria Party, told North Press.
Earlier, the residents of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods protested against the siege imposed on them by the government forces.
Background
For about ten days, the Syrian government forces have besieged the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods that are run by a civil administration close to the Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria.
The Syrian government forces’ checkpoints prevent the basic materials such as flour, foodstuffs, and oil derivatives, from entering these neighborhoods, according to Abdo.
Besieging the residents of the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods by the government forces has no aim other than to create strife and chaos, she added.
Abdo believes that the Syrian government is trying to obscure the living crises experienced by areas under its control by fabricating other crises in areas outside its control.
This is not the first time for the aforementioned neighborhoods to come under the siege by the government forces. They have already been besieged many times over the past years, according to Abdo.
