Killing, raping within Turkish-backed opposition held areas northeast Syria
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – Turkish-held areas of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel-Abyad, northeast Syria, witnessed a state of security chaos and violations that claimed the lives of civilians, in addition to cases of killing, the bulldozing of houses and rape during the third week of March.
On March 17, the city of Sere Kaniye witnessed a tension between al-Hamza Division and the Regiment 20 due to the defection of a group from al-Hamza Division and joining the Regiment 20.
A day later, the Turkish forces bombed the villages of Khirbet al-Shair and Banja in the countryside of Abu Rasin, north of Hasakah, with heavy weapons, while several shells fell near the main road linking the towns of Tel-Tamr and Abu Rasin.
At that time, the bombing resulted in material damage to the property of the residents of the area, in addition to the fall of shrapnel in the electricity transmission station in Tel-Tamr, leading to the station to be out of service.
It is worth noting that the Turkish forces and opposition factions have controlled the city of Sere Kaniye and its countryside in addition to Tel-Abyad, since 2019 following an invasion that displaced about 300 thousand of the indigenous population, according to human rights reports.
On march 19, the Sere Kaniye Displaced Committee cited local sources as saying that clashes with light weapons erupted between unidentified gunmen and members of the Turkish-backed Civil Police in al-Abra neighborhood in the city center, as a result a member of the opposition factions was wounded, while the attackers run away.
This came, days after a ten-year-old boy lost his life by al-Hamza faction members in the village of Tel-Arqam in the Sere Kaniye countryside.
On the same day, the Turkish forces and the opposition factions bombed the villages of Sayda, Mu’allaq, the M4 Highway, Ain Issa camp, and al-Saqr oil stations in the western countryside of Ain Issa district, with heavy weapons, which resulted in material damage only.
On the 22 of March, the Turkish forces bombed the eastern countryside of Ain Issa again, two children were wounded.
On the same day, in fighting broke out between Shohadaa Badr Brigade members and al-Hamza Division members at the same checkpoint over smuggling, as member of al-Hamzah Division was shot dead in the infighting, well informed sources told North Press.
Prior to this, Members of al- Hamza Division killed a civilian and wounded another at the Aziziyah checkpoint, west of the city of Sere Kaniye, for refusing to pay the bribe to the checkpoint members.
Yesterday, cross-checked sources reported to North Press that few days ago a Turkish-backed opposition faction bulldozed several houses in Ain Hisan village south of the Turkish-controlled Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain).
Mazlom Hamo Kor, one of the owners of the houses that were bulldozed in the village, said that an armed faction bulldozed 12 houses in Abu Mazloum’s farm, in the village owned by his family.
He told North Press that on march 19 and 20, the armed faction bulldozed homes and uprooted about two thousand olive trees they owned in the village.
In the same context, the Sere Kaniye IDPs Committee posted on its Facebook account that al-Hamzah Division bulldozed the houses, at the behest of the Turkish state.
The committee indicated that the aim of bulldozing houses and uprooting trees is to establish military headquarters for the Turkish army and armed factions.
Yesterday, Wednesday, the committee reported, quoting local sources, that members of the Regiment 20 raped a 12-year-old girl while she was trying to cross the border in the countryside of Sere Kaniye.
On Wednesday, Turkish forces and the affiliated opposition factions bombed the western countryside of Ain Issa town, north of Raqqa, north Syria, with missiles and heavy weapons.
Turkish forces and opposition factions targeted the village of Mu’laq and Ain Issa camp, one km away from the highway M4, with heavy weapons, a local source told North Press.