Syria
The security official's car that was damaged, leading to the arrest of 16 Kurds in Afrin. January 27, 2021. Photo: submitted to Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Sixteen people, including two minors, were kidnapped and tortured in Afrin’s village of Kakhara by a Turkish-backed Syrian armed group on Wednesday, a human rights organization reported.
Members of al-Amshat, a militia group part of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), that control the village of Kakhara in the Afrin countryside, “raided and searched the homes of the indigenous Kurds under the pretext of them having burned a security official’s car” after they imposed a curfew on the village, spokesperson for the Afrin-based Human Rights Organization Ibrahim Sheiko told Rudaw’s Khalid Jamil on Wednesday.
The organization claims that the car “was partially burned due to internal conflict between their [militia] members over stolen items.”
Two of those abducted were released later in the day, but are “now in critical condition and a coma, because of the severe torture and bad conditions” they were held in, the organization added.
The others were also released early Thursday morning “due to media pressure.”
Afrin was under the control of Kurdish forces from the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011 until March 2018. Turkey and its Syrian proxies invaded the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin in March 2018 with the stated aim of removing Kurdish forces on its borders.
Turkish-backed groups have been widely accused of human rights violations against Afrin’s locals, including kidnap, looting and extortion.
Accusations in the area, including land theft, have rung out since the invasion, dubbed Operation Olive Branch. Human rights groups and the United Nations have published reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention and pillaging, among other violations.
Amnesty International reported that “Afrin residents are enduring widespread human rights violations, mostly at the hands of Syrian armed groups equipped and armed by Turkey.”
In its annual report for 2019, rights group Amnesty International documented a “wide range of abuses” against Afrin’s civilians at the hands of Turkish-backed groups, including the arbitrary detention of more than 50 locals.
Since January 2021, nearly 100 people have been arrested, including women and children, Sheikho told Rudaw’s Omer Kalo on Wednesday.
Members of al-Amshat, a militia group part of the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA), that control the village of Kakhara in the Afrin countryside, “raided and searched the homes of the indigenous Kurds under the pretext of them having burned a security official’s car” after they imposed a curfew on the village, spokesperson for the Afrin-based Human Rights Organization Ibrahim Sheiko told Rudaw’s Khalid Jamil on Wednesday.
The organization claims that the car “was partially burned due to internal conflict between their [militia] members over stolen items.”
Two of those abducted were released later in the day, but are “now in critical condition and a coma, because of the severe torture and bad conditions” they were held in, the organization added.
The others were also released early Thursday morning “due to media pressure.”
Afrin was under the control of Kurdish forces from the start of the Syrian uprising in 2011 until March 2018. Turkey and its Syrian proxies invaded the Kurdish-majority enclave of Afrin in March 2018 with the stated aim of removing Kurdish forces on its borders.
Turkish-backed groups have been widely accused of human rights violations against Afrin’s locals, including kidnap, looting and extortion.
Accusations in the area, including land theft, have rung out since the invasion, dubbed Operation Olive Branch. Human rights groups and the United Nations have published reports detailing arbitrary arrests, detention and pillaging, among other violations.
Amnesty International reported that “Afrin residents are enduring widespread human rights violations, mostly at the hands of Syrian armed groups equipped and armed by Turkey.”
In its annual report for 2019, rights group Amnesty International documented a “wide range of abuses” against Afrin’s civilians at the hands of Turkish-backed groups, including the arbitrary detention of more than 50 locals.
Since January 2021, nearly 100 people have been arrested, including women and children, Sheikho told Rudaw’s Omer Kalo on Wednesday.
Comments
Rudaw moderates all comments submitted on our website. We welcome comments which are relevant to the article and encourage further discussion about the issues that matter to you. We also welcome constructive criticism about Rudaw.
To be approved for publication, however, your comments must meet our community guidelines.
We will not tolerate the following: profanity, threats, personal attacks, vulgarity, abuse (such as sexism, racism, homophobia or xenophobia), or commercial or personal promotion.
Comments that do not meet our guidelines will be rejected. Comments are not edited – they are either approved or rejected.
Post a comment