“Rights Monitor,” human rights monitor platform in Syria, documented public and explicit calls issued by figures supportive of the interim authority “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” inciting the killing of prisoners of war in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, in a context that constitutes a clear violation of the provisions of the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law related to the protection of prisoners of war.
The platform documented a post published by Tamer Turkmany, who identifies himself as the founder of “Syrian Revolution Archive” on his Facebook page, in which he called for the killing of Kurdish fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) while they were surrendering. He later deleted the post, without denying its content.
In the same context, Brigadier General Asaad al-Zoubi, a defector from the former regime’s army, appeared in an interview on the official “Syrian News Channel,” using disparaging and demeaning language toward Kurdish fighters affiliated with the SDF, describing those killed among them with the term “fatā’is,” a description commonly used by extremist organizations. He added, in a collectively connotative phrase, “unregretted fatā’is,” calling for not allowing crossings to be opened for them, demanding that all of them be killed, and describing them as “viruses that must be eliminated.”
Documented footage of field violations
A video dated 8 January 2026 was also circulated, showing fighters affiliated with the Ministry of Defense in the interim authority, emerging from “Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham,” dragging a person down a staircase in one of the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo city, while directing insulting abuse at him, including the phrase “drag the pig.” No confirmed information was available as to whether the person shown in the video was a combatant or a civilian; however, the incident in itself represents a grave violation of the victim’s dignity and fundamental rights.
The Ministry of Defense in the interim authority announced a ceasefire in the vicinity of the Ashrafieh, Sheikh Maqsoud, and Bani Zaid neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, effective from 3:00 a.m. until 9:00 a.m. on Friday, 9 January 2026. The ministry stated that it had granted armed groups a deadline to leave the city with their light individual weapons until 9:00 a.m.
These incidents come amid a military escalation witnessed in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo city, particularly Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh, since Tuesday, 6 January 2026, during which they were subjected to intense and continuous shelling. The pace of shelling escalated on the morning of Thursday, 8 January 2026, coinciding with the interim authority’s forces publishing maps showing residential locations in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood that were designated as targets for shelling, on the pretext that shelling operations against the neighborhoods of Aleppo city and its residents were being launched from them by the “Syrian Democratic Forces.”
This sequence of inciting calls, field practices, and military escalation represents alarming indicators of serious violations of international humanitarian law, particularly with regard to the protection of prisoners and civilians and their dignity in the context of armed conflict.
