More than 155,000 residents have been forced to flee their homes in the Kurdish-majority districts of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh in northern Aleppo following days of intense fighting, the city’s governor announced on Saturday.

The violence, which erupted last Tuesday between Aleppo’s Internal Security Forces and the Syrian Arab Army, has escalated into large-scale military operations, transforming the densely populated neighborhoods into open battlefields.

Aleppo Governor Azam Gharib, speaking at a press conference, stated that nearly 155,000 displaced persons have sought refuge in surrounding neighborhoods and villages across the Aleppo countryside. The displacement underscores a severe humanitarian crisis emerging from some of the worst fighting the city has seen in recent years.

Local officials report that Syrian government forces, under orders attributed to Ahmad al-Sharaa, have carried out sustained assaults employing heavy weaponry, tanks, and artillery for five consecutive days. The bombardment has taken a heavy toll on civilians, with at least 23 killed and 98 wounded from what officials describe as indiscriminate shelling of residential areas.

The Health Authority of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria issued a strong condemnation on Saturday, labeling the attacks as war crimes. It specifically cited the deliberate targeting of medical facilities and teams, pointing to repeated strikes on Khalid Fajr Hospital in Sheikh Maqsud.

“These acts amount to full-fledged war crimes under the Geneva Conventions,” the authority stated, calling the situation a clear violation of international humanitarian law. It urged the UN Security Council, the World Health Organization, the Red Cross, and influential states to take “urgent and effective measures to halt these acts of war.”

Amid the clashes, Syrian state television reported that authorities began transferring surrendered Kurdish fighters from Sheikh Maqsud to northeastern Syria. The broadcaster said fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) who surrendered at Yassin Hospital were bused to the city of Tabaqa under Interior Ministry supervision. An AFP correspondent confirmed seeing at least four buses departing under security escort.