Amid lack of flour in most of bread bakeries | Fourth Division “besieges” SDF-held neighbourhoods in Aleppo

Aleppo province: SOHR sources have reported that regime forces stationed at checkpoints at the entrances of the SDF-held neighbourhoods of Al-Ashrafiyyah and Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo province have clamped down on the residents. Such strict measures and “siege” imposed by regime forces will definitely lead to a humanitarian disaster threatening the lives of  nearly 200,000 civilians living in the two neighbourhoods.

 

According to SOHR sources, Al-Jazeera and Al-Sekkah checkpoints in Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood, which are run by the Fourth Division and the State Security service, have prevented the entry of food, flour and oil products to Al-Ashrafiyyah and Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhoods for over 20 days. Accordingly, markets in these neighbourhoods have suffered from acute lack of flour and other essential products, as well as depleting flour reserve stored in warehouses due to the current siege. In addition, most of bread bakeries suspended their work, along with deteriorating living conditions in light of the shortage of basic essentials and prohibitively high prices, which ignited a state of public anger in the two neighbourhoods.

 

Sources in Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhood have informed SOHR that the residents have not received their daily allocations of bread provided by “Komins” (local committees) of the Autonomous Administration. When the residents asked about the reason behind not distributing their bread, they were informed that flour was not available due to the siege and that the warehouses of flour reserve are completely empty.

 

It is worth noting that members of the regime-backed Fourth Division frequently imposes strict siege and stifling oppressing measures on the residents of Al-Ashrafiyyah and Sheikh Maqsoud neighbourhoods, including prevention of the entry of flour and imposing levies on the residents.