The living and the dead are coming home to Afrin as displaced families return with the remains of their loved ones, fulfilling a long-held wish to lay them to rest in their native soil.
This week’s escalation in Aleppo city comes amid a deepening political crisis between Damascus and the SDF, particularly after the latest round of negotiations to implement the March 2025 agreement stalled.
A ceasefire halted clashes between Syrian government forces and the SDF in two Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of Aleppo city this week, but the outburst of violence highlighted how far the two sides are from implementing stalled integration agreements.
An SDF-Damascus agreement is underway in Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhoods, which could serve as a proving ground for the success of a broader agreement in northern Syria.
People displaced from Afrin to Aleppo city’s Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods bury their loved ones in wooden coffins rather than traditional shrouds, hoping to bring them home one day, even after death.
The killing of a member of a right-wing Christian political party in Lebanon last week, attributed by the army to Syrian carjackers, unleashed a torrent of violence and threats against refugees, leaving many afraid to leave their homes.
