500 people went missing in Syria’s Manbij during ISIS reign
MANBIJ, Syria (North Press) – The Turkmen Association in Manbij, northern Syria, has documented the missing of 500 people during the Islamic State Organization (ISIS) control of the city, an official in the association said on Thursday.
Ali Muhammad, an official in the association, said that at the beginning of June, they launched a project to document all violations committed against the residents of Manbij. The project also documents those who were detained by ISIS and went missing during its control of the city.
At the beginning of 2014, ISIS announced its full control over Manbij after expelling the Free Syrian Army (FSA) from the city following fierce clashes that lasted 20 days.
The documentation project aims at providing accurate statistics, in addition to providing support to families who have lost their breadwinners and cannot find anyone to help them, according to Muhammad.
Since its launch, the project documented the disappearance of about 500 people who had been detained by ISIS, and their fate is still unknown, he told North Press.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) supported by the US-led Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS liberated Manbij from ISIS in 2016 following fierce battles.
The data collection and documentation operations are carried out in coordination with the local councils in Manbij and its countryside. After completing their documentation within the city, they will move to the countryside, according to the Turkmen Association.
After finishing this project, there will be another project but this time it will document the human rights violations committed by the Turkish forces and its affiliated Syrian opposition armed factions against the residents of the villages close to the contact lines, he added.
Following its liberation from ISIS, the Arabs, Kurds, Circassians and Turkmen, who constitute the fabric of Manbij, established in 2017 their own administration under the name of Democratic Civil Administration of Manbij and its Countryside to run the affairs of their region. Then, this administration joined the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES).
The AANES was first formed in 2014 in the Kurdish-majority regions of Afrin, Kobani and Jazira in northern Syria following the withdrawal of the government forces. Later, it was expanded to Manbij, Tabqa, Raqqa, Hasakah and Deir ez-Zor after the SDF defeated ISIS militarily there.
The project is the first of its kind in the city, and will serve as a “reference” for parties concerned with the missing and forcibly disappeared. The statistics will be provided to humanitarian organizations to provide the necessary support to the families of the missing, according to the executive in the association.