The Syrian Arab Army extended its humanitarian corridor near Deir Hafer for another day until 5:00 PM Friday, accusing SDF-allied PKK groups of preventing civilians from passing through, while the SDF denied Damascus Ministry of Defense allegations of blocking civilian evacuations from Deir Hafer and blamed disruptions on military escalation and bombing, according to X statements by AlekhbariahSY and SDF_Syria between 5:16 PM and 6:15 PM UTC on January 15. The army stated field preparations are complete to secure the area from 9:00 AM Friday and warned it will target sites obstructing civilian passage, calling on residents to avoid SDF-affiliated locations. SDF_Syria confirmed the denial in an official statement during the same period. Additional Syrian army reinforcements headed to eastern Aleppo countryside over the past hour, as reported by leventkemaI on X. This follows a War Observatory-SDF report of 23,000 fighters on the Deir Hafer front earlier on January 15. In other developments, Syria's Anti-Narcotics Department announced a joint operation with Iraq seizing approximately 2.5 million Captagon pills and arresting three traffickers—one in Iraq and two in Homs and Damascus provinces—according to QalaatAlMudiq on X citing aljeebal.com. Syria's Information Ministry permanently banned a media activist from media work for threats during clashes in Aleppo's Sheikh Maqsoud, threatening cybercrime referral for non-compliance, as stated by QalaatAlMudiq on X quoting ministry details on operational improvements.
