ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Security forces affiliated with the new leadership in Damascus briefly visited Afrin on Thursday and received a warm welcome from locals, including Kurds who raised the Kurdistan flag during the reception. A Kurdish politician stated that despite the decrease in the number of militants and settlers, violations continue in the city located north of Syria.
The Syrian interior ministry confirmed on Thursday that its forces arrived in the Kurdish city of Afrin, though the reason for the visit was not specified. The ministry also released photos showing locals welcoming the Syrian forces with both Syrian and Kurdistan flags.
Ahmed Hassan, the head of the local council for the Kurdish National Council (ENKS/KNC) - a coalition of Kurdish political parties that is considered the main opposition in northeast Syria (Rojava) – also confirmed the visit. The council has been a member of the Ankara-backed Syrian opposition since the beginning of the uprising against toppled president Bashar al-Assad in 2011.
“Around 60 vehicles, carrying nearly 150 people, entered Afrin. They then moved to Mabata, Rajo, Shiye, and Jandaris. They did not stay in Afrin. They held a meeting with the military police in the city… and returned to Aleppo,” Hassan told Rudaw. He cited informed sources as stating that the meeting emphasized Afrin’s status as a part of Syria, with security forces affiliated with Damascus tasked with taking over security in the city.
Hassan also noted that the Turkey-backed Syrian militants – known as the Syrian National Army (SNA) - remain in Afrin but in fewer numbers. He explained that the recent decision to integrate SNA fighters into the ministry of defense lines has led many to return to their villages, quitting or joining other SNA militants in ongoing attacks on the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) near Manbij, particularly around the Tishreen Dam.
Hassan attributed the decrease in the number of militants to the significant drop in the number of settlers in the city. Hundreds of thousands of Kurds were displaced when Turkey and the SNA controlled Afrin in 2018. International organizations have since recorded numerous human rights violations in the Kurdish majority city.
Most of those who fled Afrin amid the offensive are now living in the nearby Shahba region. “The violations are ongoing,” the ENKS official stated, adding that their severity varies from one place to another. He further blamed militants for the crimes.
Responding to Rudaw’s Sinan Tuncdemir during a press conference on Thursday, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson of the secretary-general of the United Nations, stated that the UN Special Envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen is working “to ensure that all the displaced populations can return to their homes."
People in the Kurdish city of Afrin in northern Syria welcome the arrival of Syria’s General Security forces by waving flags of Kurdistan and Syria. pic.twitter.com/UDaMpirle5
— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) February 6, 2025
