HASAKAH, Syria (North Press) – The Turkish-occupied cities of Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad, northeast Syria witnessed security chaos and continued violations against civilians in February.
North Press has documented multiple arbitrary arrests, casualties, and injuries due to explosions and continued clashes between the armed groups.
Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad have been under the control of Turkish forces and their affiliated armed groups since the Turkish invasion of northeast Syria in October 2019.
Violations and discontent
In early February, local sources told North Press that the civil police of the opposition groups arrested 16-year-old Yasser Hawas in al-Mahata neighborhood, west of Sere Kaniye.
The opposition groups accused Hawas of participating in protests against them and criticizing them on social media after they assaulted one of his female relatives in the city’s market on January 27.
The assault and subsequent arrest of Hawas sparked popular discontent, while his fate is still unknown.
Perhaps the most prominent incident that moved the public opinion was when members of the armed groups raped a woman in Sere Kaniye on February 12.
Local sources told North Press that Ruqqaya al-Ba’ir was gang-raped by three members of the armed opposition groups in the city’s prison.
Al-Ba’ir was arrested with two men on January 6, on charges of orchestrating the explosion which took place near al-Hal market at the beginning of 2021.
The assault sparked popular discontent in the city amid the residents’ calls to punish the perpetrators.
Arrests and trials
Turkish authorities sentenced Sere Kaniye residents Izzo Khalil al-Majjo and Hussein Mohammad al-Izzo to 20 years in prison after their arrest late in 2019, on charges of collaborating with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) against the Turkish forces.
The decision of the Turkish court came in conjunction with the publication of a lengthy Human Rights Watch report in which it said that Turkey and its affiliated armed opposition groups arrested at least 63 Syrian civilians in northeast Syria and transferred them illegally to Turkey to be tried for serious charges that could result in life imprisonment.
North Press learned from informed sources that Turkey sentenced 22-year-old Mohammad Issa, who is from Tel Halaf in Sere Kaniye and has been transferred to Urfa prison for a year, to seven years.
Issa’s sentence was issued in mid-February after he was charged with joining the SDF. His family denies the charges, saying that he was a vegetable seller, according to local sources.
On February 21, the countryside of the Tel Abyad witnessed a raid by the armed groups, resulting in the arrest of a member of al-Mashhour clan, among them Sheikh Mustafa al-Mustafa and his father Abdul Hakim Mustafa.
Tel Abyad region witnessed arrests of members of the region’s clans in January, including three of the al-Mashhour, seven of al-Fada’an, and four of al-Hanada.
Explosions and clashes
Turkish-held areas in Syria have been witnessing a security chaos, as Sere Kaniye has been witnessing clashes and explosions resulting in casualties.
On February 3, a citizen was wounded with an IED which was placed in a clothing shop near al-Bareed Roundabout in Sere Kaniye. Another IED explosion coincided with the first one, which was 10 meters away from al-Kabeer Mosque, with no causalities reported.
On February 10, conflicting news reported causalities and wounded among the armed groups after clashes between the Sultan Murad Division and Suleiman Shah Brigade in Tel Halaf, west of Sere Kaniye.
On February 15, activists on social media reported the wounding of five citizens as a result of clashes between two groups affiliated with Sultan Murad Division after their dispute over one of the houses in Sere Kaniye.
A special source told North Press that a member of al-Jabha al-Shamiya was wounded after clashes between two of its affiliated groups in Tel Abyad.
Both of the groups used machine guns and heavy weapons, which resulted in wounded among them.
On February 25, five civilians were killed and others wounded as a result of an IED explosion in a van in the center of Sere Kaniye.
The explosion left material damage, without anyone claiming responsibility.