The infant child Mohammad Abdul Rahman Barakat, from the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood in the city of Aleppo, died as a result of the deterioration of his health during a grueling forced displacement journey, following the shelling of the surroundings of “Khaled Fajr” Hospital and the firing of tear gas canisters.
The child died on the morning of 13 January 2026, after arriving with his family in the city of Al-Hasakah, where he was buried. The circumstances of the incident date back to the events that took place in the vicinity of “Khaled Fajr” Hospital in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood of Aleppo during the period between 6 and 10 January 2026.
Due to the indiscriminate shelling that targeted the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, particularly the surroundings of “Khaled Fajr” Hospital, the child’s family, along with a large number of civilians, sought shelter inside the hospital. According to available information, the targeting was not limited to shelling, as tear gas canisters were fired in the hospital’s vicinity, leading to cases of suffocation and deterioration in the health condition of a number of those present inside, especially children.
Later, during a forced displacement journey that lasted for many long hours from the city of Aleppo to the city of Al-Hasakah in northeastern Syria, his condition worsened further as a result of the cold weather and prolonged waiting at checkpoints, before he passed away on the morning of 13 January 2026.
During the aforementioned period, “Khaled Fajr” Hospital was subjected to repeated attacks that included artillery shelling, mortar shells, and rockets, in addition to being targeted by drone aircraft. On 10 January 2026, tear gas canisters were fired by the forces of the temporary authority that had reached its vicinity.
Documented footage dated 9 January 2026 showed extremely dire humanitarian conditions inside the hospital, where its corridors were filled with the injured, and the wounded were forced to lie on the ground.
These events occurred in the context of the military escalation witnessed by the Sheikh Maqsoud and Al-Ashrafieh neighborhoods, which are predominantly Kurdish, in the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, as a result of the intense and continuous shelling carried out by the forces of the temporary authority, represented by “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” during the period from 6 to 10 January 2026.
