The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) blocked vehicles carrying civilians seeking to leave Deir Hafer east of Aleppo through a humanitarian corridor at their main checkpoint on the town's western entrance this morning, according to geolocated footage shared by monitor QalaatAlMudiq on X over the past hour ending at 11:15 AM UTC. Some civilians successfully reached government-held areas by crossing a damaged pedestrian bridge north of the town on foot. QalaatAlMudiq reported the evacuation corridor for Deir Hafer and Maskana remains empty, with SDF preventing residents from leaving while citing mine threats as a pretext. Geolocated coordinates place the checkpoint at 36.163637, 37.689787. This follows SDF preventions of civilian exits from Deir Hafer through the same corridor announced by the Syrian government earlier on January 15, as stated by the Deir Hafer District Administration and reported by monitors including QalaatAlMudiq before 10:15 AM UTC. In related context, Charles Lister shared details on X of Syria-SDF talks agreed upon with U.S. mediators in October 2025, including a written deal on the table for three months, linking to a Middle East Institute publication on developments leading to clashes in Aleppo.
