Syrian Army units enter Deir Hafir amid withdrawal of YPG/SDF

ALEPPO

The Syrian Army on Saturday announced that its units have begun entering areas west of the Euphrates River, starting with the city of Deir Hafir east of Aleppo, amid the withdrawal of the YPG/SDF terror group.

The Operations Command of the Syrian Arab Army said: “Advance units of the Syrian Arab Army have begun entering the area west of the Euphrates, starting with the city of Deir Hafir,” according to Al-Ikhbariya TV.

Meanwhile, around 1,000 families have moved to secure areas after departing the Deir Hafir.

The aerial images of Deir Hafir, which the Syrian army declared a military zone on Jan. 13 along with other locations west of the Euphrates River, were captured by Anadolu on Friday.

In the town, home to around 30,000 people, pedestrian and vehicle traffic has almost completely come to a halt, including the M15 highway.

Certain sections of the M15 highway — designated by the Syrian Army as a humanitarian corridor for the temporary and safe evacuation of civilians — had been blocked with concrete barriers by the YPG/SDF terrorist organization.

To ensure the temporary and safe evacuation of civilians, the Syrian Army opened a humanitarian corridor on Thursday and Friday.

However, the terror group YPG/SDF is preventing civilians from leaving in order to use them as human shields in a possible operation.

Earlier, the army urged civilians not to enter designated military operation zones in the area until they are fully secured and cleared of landmines and war remnants, citing safety concerns.

The move comes as Ferhat Abdi Sahin, a ringleader of the YPG/SDF terror group targeted by the army's military operation west of the Euphrates, claimed that terror elements would withdraw to regions east of the river starting 7 am local time (0400GMT).