Aleppo school picks up the pieces after SDF fight with Syria’s army

Civilians cautiously return to Aleppo neighborhoods after the Syrian Army secures areas hit by the conflict with SDF.Published On 13 Jan 2026Aleppo, Syria – Spent bullet shell casings litter the classrooms and corridors of Qassem Amin school in Aleppo’s Ashrafieh neighbourhood. Desks barricade the stairwells; glass from shattered windows crunches underfoot.The school’s playground turned into a battleground last week, as it sat on the front line of fierce fighting between fighters from the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian government forces.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Syrian forces search for explosives, weapons after SDF pulls out of Aleppolist 2 of 3Photos: Syrians in Kurdish area of Aleppo pick up pieces after clasheslist 3 of 3Integration of armed factions remains one of Syria’s biggest challengesend of listSDF snipers had commandeered the top floor of the school five months earlier, while classes continued below, school staff explained.“It was very wrong,” said the school’s head teacher, Ouafa Zein al-Dein, “especially for the children”.“We never interacted with them, never even spoke to them,” Zein al-Dein said of the SDF fighters. “I never let anyone near them.”On January 6, the day fighting started, the school’s pupils had just sat down for exams. They never finished them. When Zein al-Dein heard the first explosions, she quickly sent the children home.Bullet casings and shattered glass were left behind after the fighting between the SDF and the Syrian government in Aleppo’s Qassem Amin school [Bernard Smith/Al Jazeera]SDF strongholdsAt least 155,000 people fled Ashrafieh and Sheikh Maqsoud, the predominantly Kurdish Aleppo neighbourhoods where the fighting took place.The areas had been controlled by the SDF for 10 years.Last March, the SDF agreed to merge with the Syrian Army after a meeting between the group’s leader, Mazloum Abdi (also known as Mazloum Kobani), and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. It was part of a broader deal to bring all SDF-controlled areas of Syria under the control of the new government, which took power after the fall of the regime of former President Bashar al-Assad in December 2024.