Children carrying belongings walk past security forces as residents flee Aleppo's Ashrafieh Kurdish neighbourhood on January 7, 2026. Civilians were fleeing Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo on January 7 after the Syrian army declared them "closed military zones", amid ongoing fighting with Kurdish-led forces in the northern city. The deadly clashes, which started on January 6, are the worst between the two sides, who have so far failed to implement a March deal to merge the Kurds' semi-autonomous administration and military into Syria's new Islamist government.