Thousands in NE Syria mourn AANES officials killed in Turkish strike
AMUDA, Syria (North Press) – Thousands of residents from different areas of northeast Syria attended the funeral of two officials of the Qamishli Region Council, affiliated with the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), in the city of Amuda, nearly 30 km west of Qamishli city, northeast Syria.
On Tuesday, a Turkish drone targeted a vehicle carrying officials of the AANES near the village of Beyandur, east of Qamishli. The attack killed the Co-chair of the Qamishli Region Council, Yusra Darwish; the Deputy Co-chair, Leyman Shouish; and their driver, Farat Toma; as well as, it injured the other Co-chair, Gabi Shamoun, while they were on their way to visiting AANES institutions.
The funeral of Darwish and Shouish was held at the “Martyr Dijwar” cemetery in Amuda, and was attended by AANES officials, as well as heads and representatives of political parties.
Representatives of women’s organizations and political parties, and the families of the victims gave speeches condemning the attack.
In his speech during the funeral, the co-chair of the AANES Executive Council, Talaat Yunes, said that “Turkey seeks to occupy Syrian territories, especially after Turkish President Erdogan won the Turkish elections.”
“Turkey aims to break the will of our people, especially with the AANES’ announcement to hold trials for ISIS terrorists,” he said.
On June 10, the AANES decided to begin trials for foreign ISIS fighters detained in the AANES’ prisons in line with international and local laws related to terrorism.
About 10,000 ISIS fighters are held in the AANES’ prisons, in addition to tens of thousands of their family members, mostly women and children, residing in camps in northeast Syria.