NE Syria witnesses ongoing violations in Turkish-held areas
TEL TAMR, Syria (North Press) – The Turkish forces escalated bombardment with heavy weapons on the countryside and outskirts of the town of Ain Issa, north of Raqqa, throughout the current week, as in previous weeks.
On April 8, the Turkish forces and the Turkish-backed armed factions targeted the two villages of Ma’laq, and Sayda, Ain Issa Camp and the M4 Highway in the countryside of Ain Issa, with 45 artillery and tank shells, which was the heaviest attack, according to a statement by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
In the statement, the SDF said it had informed the guarantor parties of the violations in the town of Ain Issa and its surroundings.
On the same day, local sources told North Press the Turkish forces targeted the villages of Arida and Umm Hawish in the western countryside of Tal Abyad, with heavy weapons.
In October 2019, the Turkish forces and the Syrian opposition factions launched a ground and aerial offensive against Sere Kaniye and Tel Abyad in northeast Syria displacing approximately 300,000 civilians, human rights reports said.
Statistics show incidents of looting, kidnapping and killing have scaled up in addition to deteriorating living conditions and spread of unemployment in Syrian territories run by Turkey.
Violations and distractions
The Turkish forces and the affiliated armed factions violated the reached ceasefire agreement more than eight times during the second week of April, according to what North Press Agency monitored.
In 2019, Turkey signed two agreements one with Russia and one with the US that stipulated a ceasefire in Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) and Tel Abyad, and the withdrawal of SDF from areas near the Turkish border.
On April 11, the Violations Documentation Office in Tel Abyad Council said that the recent escalation had destroyed 11 houses, some of which were completely destroyed in the village of al-Jadida, west of Ain Issa, and the rest were partially destroyed.
Turkish forces and their affiliated factions continue targeting the lines of contact with the SDF in northeastern Syria.
Since the Turkish invasion with the support of the affiliated opposition factions in 2018, Insecurity prevails in areas in northeast Syria. Infighting between the factions constantly have occured over lootings and expanding power which resulted in casualties.
On Wednesday evening, “Heavy clashes with machine guns erupted between members of two groups in the Hamza faction in the vicinity of Tel Arqam village in the countryside of the city of Sere Kaniye due to disputes over smuggling people from Syria to Turkey,” a local source told North Press.
“The clashes resulted in the killing of a member called Iyad al-Hallaq from Homs, and another one was seriously injured,” the source added.
Days ago, three cases of infighting took place between the opposition factions in Sere Kaniye city, the first of which was between two groups of the Mu’tasim Division inside the city over a house owned by an IDP from the city.
Another infighting with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades erupted between the two factions of Sultan Malik-Shah Brigade and the Hamza Division in the town of Tel Halaf, west of Sere Kaniye, due to a dispute over thefts and passengers crossing smuggling routes into Turkey,” a local source told North Press.
Detention and Torture
On April 7, The committee of the displaced people of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain) quoted a report issued by Amnesty International between 2021 and 2022, which stated that the Turkish-backed factions committed a number of violations against the residents of Afrin and Sere Kaniye, against civilians most of whom are Kurds.
The report indicated that these violations were linked to several practices, including detention without charge, kidnapping, torture, and other forms of ill-treatment.
The armed factions tortured detainees who were deprived of legal representation and contact with their families during interrogation in order to extract confessions in unofficial centers, according to the report of the United Nations Commission of Inquiry.
The Turkish bombing reported material damage to the residents’ property, in addition to new rates of displacement of residents from their homes in search of safer areas.