Roads to Sheikh Maqsood, Al-Ashrafieh still blocked, Turkey Accused of involvement

ANHA correspondent documented, with audio-visual evidence, that the roads to Sheikh Maqsood and Al-Ashrafieh have been blocked by earthen barriers for the third consecutive day, effectively maintaining a strict siege on the neighborhoods.

Footage shows that Transitional Government forces in Syria are preventing residents from entering the neighborhoods and are inspecting mobile devices of those leaving. Any display of Kurdish symbols reportedly results in abductions, as in the case of young man Imad Horo, who was barred from returning. These measures have caused significant difficulties, particularly for university students.

In an interview, Co-Chair Nuri Shikho stated that the Transitional Government is attempting to justify its siege and attacks on civilians. He described the recent events as “an attempted extermination.”

Shikho added that the cutting of roads, electricity, internet, and the blockage of food, medicine, infant formula, and fuel, alongside attempts to run over protesters with armored vehicles and the use of live ammunition, all indicate attempts to commit massacres against civilians.

He emphasized that the claims used to justify these attacks, including allegations regarding tunnels, lack credibility and serve only to deflect pressure on the Transitional Government for its flawed approach to the ongoing dialogue.

Shikho urged that the use of starvation as a tactic in negotiations should be raised with international bodies to serve as guarantors and praised the residents’ responses to the attempted extermination.

He also noted that while communication channels remain open, internal contradictions exist within the Transitional Government, particularly regarding Turkish interventions, which hinder the reopening of the roads.

“We are working around the clock at all levels to overcome all obstacles and open the roads, which remain a primary demand of the population,” Shikho concluded.

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ANHA