By Hani Salem
AFRIN, Syria (North Press) – A military patrol of Ahrar al-Sharqiya, a faction of the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka Syrian National Army (SNA), intercepted a young man riding a motorcycle while he was coming back home from work in the town of Jindires, northwest Syria, asking him for his ID.
Omar Hury, a pseudonym of a young man from Jindires, said that they asked him if he was Kurdish.
Upon disclosing his Kurdish identity, the militants violently assaulted him, justifying their actions as a search for explosives on his motorcycle, without pointing any charges against him.
Due to the severe beating and torture, Hury lost consciousness and woke up at the Jindires health center, where he had been hospitalized by locals. “As part of legal measures, the SNA’s Military Police arrived and filed a report, but they did not return my motorcycle or identify those who attacked me,” he said.
Violations against Kurds in areas controlled by the SNA in northern Syria have escalated due to security breakdowns in eastern Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria. There, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have clashed with tribal forces and managed to restore stability and security to the region after the latter declared insurgency. These clashes were instigated by various parties exploiting ethnic divisions between Kurds and Arabs to fuel the tensions.
These violations in Afrin and Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) range from physical assaults and security harassment to arbitrary detentions, as well as evictions from shops and homes.
Ten days ago, Suleiman Abdo, 45, a pseudonym for a resident of the village of Maabatli in the Afrin countryside, noticed that militants of Hamza and al-Amshat factions, most of whom are from the al-Baggara tribe, whose leader declared a war against the SDF in Deir ez-Zor, were harassing the residents of the village during their inspections.
Under the pretext of searching for wanted individuals affiliated with the SDF, militants from both factions are conducting late-night house searches abruptly and without prior notice.
Abdo, residing with his family in a rented house, observed a display of racism towards them during these raids due to their Kurdish identity. These operations primarily target Kurdish families, resulting in the evacuation of 13 homes within a week, including some that were already affected by the earthquake in Jindires.
The man has been informed to evacuate the house that he lives in despite the fact that its ownership belongs to a man from Aleppo. He stated, “They disregard the lease and the owner’s freedom to rent the property. It seems they pressured property owners to comply with their demands.”
Abdo visited the security centers in Maabatli and Sheikh Hadid in order to inquire about the reasons behind these raids and harassment. However, he received no substantial response from the authorities, except that the security situation is currently unstable.
A militant from the SNA’s Civil Police in Afrin explained, “The calls for tribal mobilization to support Deir ez-Zor tribes against the SDF were exploited by Turkish forces, Turkmen leaders, and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS, formerly al-Nusra Front) to fuel hatred and nationalist sentiments against the Kurds.”
He highlighted that most arrests and property evacuations targeting Kurds during the current month have not been officially documented by the Civil Police, which is the only relevant authority concerned with such matters.
“These actions have been carried out by factions affiliated with the SNA, particularly al-Amshat and Ahrar al-Sharqiya, under the eyes of the Turkish authorities, who played a significant role in promoting the alleged conflict between Arabs and Kurds [in Deir ez-Zor],” he concluded.