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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region- Turkey’s Syrian Proxies, under the banner of the Syrian National Army, continued their rampage on Tuesday as they appeared to disrespect the corpse of a female Kurdish fighter killed in battle.
On Tuesday, in a video published by the UK-based war monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a bearded fighter is seen alongside others identifying themselves as the “Mujahideen of Faylaq al-Majd,” the ‘Jihadis of the Majid corps’ who invoke the word “Allah w Akbar” (God is Great) on several occasions.
“The corpses of PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party) and PYD (Democratic Union Party) pigs under the feet of the Mujahideen of Faylaq (Corps) al-Majd,” the fighter who is recording the video is seen saying.
Fighters of the same faction can be seen standing on the corpse of a member of the all-Kurdish female unit Women’s Protection Units (YPJ), part of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
“This is one of your whores whom you have sent to us. This is one of the whores under our feet,” the Turkish-backed proxy member, as he appears to chuckle from happiness, is seen saying.
According to Hawar news agency, an outlet close to the ruling Kurdish authorities in northern Syria, the Kurdish female fighter, alongside her comrades, was killed on Tuesday afternoon in battles outside of the city of Kobane.
The battles had reportedly taken place as Turkish-backed groups conducted an attack on a meeting point of YPJ, despite a US-brokered ceasefire deal being in place.
The incident is reminiscent of Turkey’s “Olive Branch” incursion into the Kurdish-enclave Afrin in February 2018, in which the corpse of YPJ fighter Barin Kobane was mutilated by Turkish-backed proxy forces. “[These are] the pigs of the PKK,” a fighter said as her corpse was abused.
In another video obtained by Rudaw, another YPJ fighter seems to have been captured in Tuesday’s attack by the 3rd Corps of the Faylaq al-Majd, by the Ahrar Dar Ta’azah battalions.
“I took this female pig prisoner!” a fighter is heard saying, as they surround a confused female, with indistinct shouts of “beautiful” being heard in the background. It is not clear if they are referring to the captured YPJ fighter.
Turkey’s land invasion of Kurdish-controlled territories in the north of Syria began on October 9. Since then, 300,000 people have been displaced and more than 200 civilians killed.
Turkey considers the Kurdish fighters, once backed by the US, as terrorists, and has vowed to remove them from the border area.
The Syrian groups embedded in Turkey’s operation, however, are widely accused of committing crimes civilians. Currently, over 100 villages and the two critical border towns of Sari Kani and Tel Abyad are in the hands of these groups.
It didn’t take long for forces to start looting the property of Kurds and Arabs in Sari Kani (Ras al-Ain), while grain silos belonging to locals who have fled were looted in Gire Spi (Tel Abyad)
Looting, however, is not the only crime that the groups have been accused of committing. Kurdish female politician and women’s rights activist Hevrin Khalaf was summarily executed, and had her corpse abused, by Turkish-backed forces on October 12.
According to the autopsy report, Khalaf was dragged by her hair, causing her scalp to tear, and had her leg broken before being shot multiple times.
The group has proudly published videos of themselves appearing to carrying out a field execution of two men, potentially war crimes.
The United Nations (UN) and human rights group Amnesty International have both condemned Turkey and its Syrian proxies for their crimes.
“Turkey could be deemed responsible as a State for violations committed by their affiliated armed groups, as long as Turkey exercises effective control over these groups, or the operations in the course of which those violations occurred,” UN's Human Rights Office said on October 15.
“Turkish military forces and their allies have displayed an utterly callous disregard for civilian lives," Amnesty International’s Secretary General Kumi Naidoo said on October 18.
This might soon end, however. On Tuesday, Turkish President Recep Teyyip Erdogan reached an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the fate of the Kurdish areas.
Within 150 hours, Kurdish fighters of People’s Protection Units (YPG) and YPJ will be removed, alongside their weapons, to an area within a depth of 30 kilometers into Syria.
Turkey and Russia, after the deadline, will conduct joint patrols in the west and east of areas designated by Turkey to take during Operation Peace Spring with a depth of 10 kilometers, excluding Qamishli.
This, for now, completely halts military operations, while letting Turkey keep the areas it has taken over since the start of the operation on October 9.
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