Sheikh Maqsood ( ar, ٱلشَّيْخ مَقْصُود, aš-Šayḵ Maqṣūd, ku, Şêxmeqsûd, شێخ مەقسوود, ), sometimes spelled al-Sheikh Maqsoud, Maqsud or Maksud, is a Kurdish-majority neighborhood in the city of Aleppo, Syria. It is controlled by the

People's Protection Units The People's Defense Units (YPG), (YPG) ; ar, وحدات حماية الشعب, Waḥdāt Ḥimāyat aš-Šaʽb) also called People's Protection Units, is a mainly- Kurdish militia in Syria and the primary component of the Syrian Democ ...

(YPG).

Syrian Civil War

During the Syrian Civil War, the Kurdish-majority

(YPG) took control of the neighborhood. Separated from the larger Kurdish regions of Syria, Sheikh Maqsood had been vulnerable to assaults by the

Al-Nusra Front Al-Nusra Front or Jabhat al-Nusra ( ar, جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام, Jabhat an-Nuṣrah li-Ahl ish-Sham lit. ''Front of the Supporters of the People of Syria/the Levant''), known as Jabhat Fatah al-Sham ( ar, جبهة فتح ال ...

and other Islamist rebel groups which were besieging the district from all directions but the south and west until they were driven back by pro-government forces in 2016. Islamist rebel groups frequently shelled Sheikh Maqsood. In May 2016, Amnesty International's regional director suggested that the attacks on Sheikh Maqsood constituted war crimes. Between February and April 2016, more than 83 civilians were killed by the attacks. In mid-June 2016, Russia accused the rebel militias of causing the death of over 40 civilians that month. A

Syrian Democratic Forces , war = the Syrian Civil War , image = Flag of Syrian Democratic Forces.svgborder , caption = Flag , active = 10 October 2015 – present , ideology = DemocracyDecentralizationSecularism ...

(SDF) spokesman accused rebels of causing 1,000 civilian deaths and injuries, through their shelling of Sheikh Maqsood. A

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

report from February 2017 came to the conclusion that, while during the siege of Eastern Aleppo the attacks against Sheikh Maqsoud decreased, Islamist rebel groups affiliated with

Fatah Halab Fatah Halab ( ar, فتح حلب, Fataḥ Ḥalab, lit=Conquest of Aleppo), or Aleppo Conquest, was a joint operations room of Syrian rebel factions operating in and around Aleppo, Syria. Succeeding the Aleppo Liberation operations room, its ...

, after vowing to take revenge on the Kurds in Sheikh Maqsoud, intentionally attacked civilian neighborhoods of the Kurdish enclave – killing and maiming dozens of civilians – and that these acts constituted the war crime of directing attacks against a civilian population.

References

Neighborhoods of Aleppo Kurdish communities in Syria {{AleppoSY-geo-stub