ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A senior official from northeast Syria (Rojava) on Sunday visited the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, months after it came under the control of Syrian government forces.
Elham Ahmed, co-chair of the foreign relations department of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), met with residents to discuss security and service-related issues and assess conditions in the neighborhood, according to the Kurdish Hawar News Agency (ANHA).
The visit is seen as part of Rojava's efforts to reconnect with areas it lost to the interim government following clashes between the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian government forces in January. The SDF lost much of its territory during the fighting before agreeing to a US-brokered deal that includes the integration of Rojava's military and civilian institutions into the new government in Damascus.
Ahmed also visited the Kurdish city of Afrin in recent days. The city was under Kurdish control before it fell to Turkey and allied Syrian armed groups in 2018. The military offensive displaced hundreds of thousands of Kurds.
The integration agreement has enabled thousands of displaced Kurds, particularly those from Afrin, to return to their homes.