Government deprives Kurdish-majority neighborhood in Aleppo of fuel
ALEPPO, Syria (North Press) – For the third consecutive day, residents of two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in the city of Aleppo, northern Syria, suffer from a complete power outage due to lack of fuel.
The Fourth Division, a military formation affiliated with Syrian government forces, has prevented fuel from entering the two neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh.
Walat Mamo, co-chair of the council of the aforementioned neighborhoods, told North Press that for nearly 10 days, no fuel entered, which led to the consumption of the reserve stock and its depletion, so the generators stopped working the matter led to power outrage.
The price of one barrel (220 liters) of diesel in the market is about one million and 250.000 Syrian pounds (SYP), which equals nearly $275, according to Mamo, but it is rarely available.
Thus, the movement of markets decreased by 80% compared to previous periods due to the suspension of most restaurants, shops and sewing workshops that depend on electricity, residents said.
Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, in addition to the IDPs camps and villages in the northern countryside of Aleppo, also known as Shahba region, are housing the IDPs of Afrin who fled the violations and the invasion of the Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions since their control of Afrin in 2018.
In late March and early April, the Fourth Division denied the entry of foodstuff to the two neighborhoods for 46 days.
Both Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods, northern Aleppo, are semi-autonomous and run by a civil administration.
The two neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh have become a safe haven for many people from both inside and outside the city of Aleppo. This has led to the activation of trade and industrial movement, but the Syrian government besieges them frequently.
Also, both Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh enjoy security and stability better than that of the other neighborhoods in Aleppo, which made them to be a target of the armed opposition factions several times.
The neighborhoods are separated from the other neighborhoods in Aleppo by three government security checkpoints; Ashrafiyeh, Awared, and Maghsalat al-Jazira.