Thousands of displaced individuals from the city of Afrin in northern Aleppo have returned to their city from which they had been displaced nearly six years ago, following a military operation launched by Turkey in 2018, which ended with the control of the Syrian National Army (SNA), supported by Turkey, over the area.

A member of the local council of the Kurdish National Council in Afrin, Azad Othman, indicated that estimates suggest more than 70,000 citizens from the original residents of the area have returned to their homes, noting that their return came after the National Army factions evacuated some checkpoints in the region.

Othman added to Enab Baladi that there are no accurate statistics on the number of returnees, especially since civilians have returned from various axes and the issuance of identities has been suspended for years, making it difficult to accurately count the number of returnees, emphasizing that the estimates are based on approximations.

Othman mentioned that the return of the residents is normal and does not face any significant obstacles, except for individuals who had connections with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), which is considered the political umbrella for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

He stated that the displaced individuals primarily returned from the city of Tal Rifaat and the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods in Aleppo.

Thousands of Afrin residents had been residing in the city of Tal Rifaat in northern Aleppo, which was controlled by the SDF until December 2024.

With the launch of the “Deterrence of Aggression” battle by the opposition factions and their fighters moving towards the city of Aleppo, then to Hama, Homs, and finally to Damascus, these factions took control of areas that had been held by the SDF, based on understandings.

Since the control of the “Dawn of Freedom” operations room over Tal Rifaat, Enab Baladi reporters have observed the return of displaced individuals from Afrin, who had been residing in Tal Rifaat since 2018, back to their birthplace in Afrin.

Many camps are spread across northern Aleppo, housing displaced individuals from the city of Afrin since the control of Turkey and the Syrian National Army factions over the city and surrounding villages and towns. These camps are known as “Tal Rifaat Camps” or “Shahba Camps.”

Over the past years, residents of these camps have suffered from difficult living conditions, like many other residents of makeshift tents throughout various regions in Syria.