SDF says it now controls Nubl and Zahra after Syrian government withdrawal

SDF says it now controls Nubl and Zahra after Syrian government withdrawal

Event date: 2024-11-30

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces say they have taken control of the towns of Nubl and Zahra on the outskirts of Aleppo after Syrian government forces and Iran-backed militias withdrew.

The claim, reported by Kurdistan 24 and attributed to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, places the two Shiite-majority towns in the middle of a fast-moving battlefield shift near Syria’s biggest city. According to the report, the SDF’s move came as opposition forces expanded their gains around Aleppo and the government presence in the area thinned.

The towns matter for both military and political reasons. Nubl and Zahra sit in a strategically sensitive part of Aleppo province and had been associated with pro-government control for years. Their change in control would add to the mounting pressure on Syrian government forces as multiple armed actors redraw the map in northern Syria.

The report says the withdrawal of Iranian-backed militia groups helped open the way for the SDF advance. That detail is important because it suggests the shift was not simply the result of a direct assault, but of a wider repositioning by forces aligned with Damascus and its allies.

The same account also places the development in a broader collapse of control around Aleppo city. It says much of Aleppo had already fallen into the hands of opposition forces, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and allied groups. Against that backdrop, the SDF’s move into Nubl and Zahra underscores how rapidly the balance of power was changing across northern Syria.

There is, however, an important caveat. The source provided here relies on SOHR and does not include independent battlefield verification. In a conflict environment like this one, that matters. Control can shift quickly, front lines can be fluid and competing claims are common. Even so, the report is clear that the SDF says it has taken the towns and that the surrounding conditions made such a move possible.

For residents, any change in control is likely to bring immediate uncertainty about checkpoints, access routes and who can provide basic order. For armed groups, it is a signal that the northern theater around Aleppo remains highly contested and that local withdrawals by one side can create openings for another.

What this development does not yet answer is whether the SDF can hold the towns or whether their capture will prove temporary. What it does show is that the front line around Aleppo is still moving, and that local military withdrawals can produce rapid and consequential changes on the ground.