NGO says Turkey’s SNA arrests 338 people in northern Syria
QAMISHLI, Syria (North Press) – An advocacy association said on Tuesday the Turkish-backed armed opposition factions, aka the Syrian National Army (SNA), with the support of the Turkish forces arrested 338 people in northern Syria in the first half of 2024.
Synergy/Hevdesti Association, a victims’ advocacy group operating in Northeast Syria, said the SNA factions and the Turkish forces arrested 338 people in the Kurdish-majority cities of Afrin, Tel Abyad and Ras al-Ain (Sere Kaniye) in northern Syria.
The arrestees included “eight children and 21 women, two of whom are women of special needs,” Synergy added. “Turkish forces were also involved in committing at least 40 of these arrests.”
In Afrin, northwestern Syria, the association documented the arrest of at least 203 persons, including 13 women and eight children. Out of them, only 33 arrestees were released while the fate of 170 is still unaccounted for.
In Ras al-Ain (Sere Kaniye) and Tel Abyad, the association documented the arrest of 135 persons, including eight women. Of these, 74 arrestees were released while the fate of 61 others remains undisclosed.
Synergy revealed that comparing the first half of 2023, the arbitrary arrests in the three cities have almost doubled, as the arrests rose from 182 cases in the first half of 2023 to 338 cases during the same period in 2024.