SNA arrests people for not joining protests in Syria’s Sere Kaniye
SERE KANIYE, Syria (North Press) – Militants of Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka Syrian National Army (SNA), raided on Saturday and Sunday neighborhoods in the city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northern Hasakah Governorate, northeast Syria.
As a result, they detained 16 administrative employees in institutions affiliated with the Syrian opposition’s Interim Government for refusing to participate in protests condemning US sanctions against the divisions of Sultan Suleiman Shah (al-Amshat) and Hamza, affiliated with the SNA.
On August 17, the US Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated al-Amshat and Hamza divisions, al-Amshat leader Muhammad Hussein al-Jassem (Abu Amsha), his younger brother Walid Hussein al-Jassem, Hamza leader Saif Abu Bakr, and the Istanbul-headquartered al-Safir Oto, a car dealership owned by Abu Amsha, for committing “serious human rights abuses” against the people of Afrin, mainly the Kurds.
An exclusive source told North Press that two units from al-Amshat and Hamza divisions raided the homes of the wanted individuals in the northern and southern neighborhoods of al-Mahata, and al-Abra neighborhood in Sere Kaniye. As a result, 16 wanted individuals were arrested.
The sanctioned factions forced the administrators of the Mar Toma Syriac Orthodox Church in Sere Kaniye to issue a statement rejecting the sanctions.
Under the slogan “With Us or Against Us,” the sanctioned factions compelled the residents of Afrin and its countryside, northwest Syria, to participate in protests over the past two days condemning the sanctions against the factions leaders.
The militants of these factions deliberately forced Kurdish residents to participate in these protests, according to local sources.
The sources added that Arab tribes were forced to issue statements rejecting the sanctions.
On August 15, North Press held a dialogue session that discussed the state of human rights and violations in the Turkish-occupied city of Sere Kaniye (Ras al-Ain), northeast Syria. The dialogue session presented a comprehensive report on those violations titled “Atrocities committed by the SNA in Turkish-occupied areas in north Syria”.