Deir Hafer in eastern Aleppo countryside became a ghost town after civilians evacuated in anticipation of a Syrian military operation, according to a post by syrianFactCheck on X over the past 59 minutes between 7:17 PM and 8:16 PM UTC on January 15. The development follows the Syrian Arab Army's extension of a humanitarian corridor near Deir Hafer until 5:00 PM Friday, accusing SDF-allied groups of blocking civilian passage, as reported earlier by AlekhbariahSY and SDF_Syria on X. The SDF denied the allegations, attributing disruptions to military escalation. In Raqqa, Damascus appointed Muhammad al-Adhan, known as Abu Uday and a Tabqa native who led opposition groups since 2012, as Internal Security Commander, a position previously delayed due to negotiations with the SDF, per GregoryPWaters on X citing shaam.org during the same period. A Syrian Ministry of Defense training delegation visited Saudi Arabia's National Defense University to discuss academic cooperation, with Saudi Arabia set to begin a three-year program training Syrian naval officers, the first batch arriving alongside the delegation, according to GregoryPWaters on X. New Google Earth satellite imagery published a few days ago shows traces of destruction in defense factories in southern Aleppo countryside from an Israeli bombing on January 3, 2025, with images dated to April 2025, as posted by EekadFacts on X. Separate updated imagery reveals remnants of the Saraqeb defensive system in eastern Idlib alongside signs of life returning, per QalaatAlMudiq on X.
