Turkish-backed factions arrest civilian protesters in Syria’s Raqqa countryside
TEL ABYAD, Syria (North Press) – Six civilians in the city of Tel Abyad, north of Raqqa, northern Syria, were arrested on Saturday by members of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) on charges of participating in a protest in the city against poor living conditions.
Yesterday, hundreds of residents of the city of Tel Abyad, which is run by the Turkish forces and the opposition factions, protested against the poor living conditions and the corruption of the local council.
The protesters raised slogans saying, “No to starvation, no to monopoly,” and “We are at the mercy of the mafias.”
“Members of the Turkish forces and militants of the SNA arrested six residents of Tel Abyad city, after raiding all the houses of the village,” a local source told North Press.
“The detainees were taken to a branch of the SNA in the center of Tel Abyad,” the source added.
Activists on social media, in tandem with the protest that took place in the city yesterday, published pictures of children in the town of Suluk, east of Tel Abyad, scavenging the garbage and eating the things in it, and collecting nylon bags to use them for heating.
Since the Turkish forces and the affiliated opposition factions took over the regions of the Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad, north Syria, in late 2019, these regions have witnessed continuous protests over the poor living conditions, widespread unemployment and security chaos.