The Commander of Internal Security in Aleppo Governorate delivered a speech to defectors from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) organization in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood over the past 29 minutes through 6:16 PM UTC on Jan. 9, according to Damas Post. A Syrian security source previously announced a total of 100 SDF and Asayish fighters defected today in Aleppo, including the commander overseeing checkpoints in Sheikh Maqsoud, as reported by QalaatAlMudiq during the prior reporting period. The speech occurs amid Syrian Arab Army operations in the area, following the Ministry of Defence's announcement at 4:16 PM UTC of destroying an SDF ammunition depot there. Separately in this window, a special source informed the Syrian newspaper Al-Thawra that 90 members of SDF-affiliated Asayish forces defected in the western countryside of Deir ez-Zor, according to an X post by ivarmm.
