Syrian army detains Kurdish men fleeing violence in Aleppo

Rudaw

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Damascus-allied armed groups were seen detaining Kurdish men in Aleppo as civilians fled fierce clashes in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods on Saturday.

Rudaw footage showed armed groups affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army arresting Kurdish men in civilian clothing. They were being detained at checkpoints in the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood, where the Syrian army launched an operation to expel Kurdish fighters who have held the area for over a decade.

An estimated 150,000 residents have fled Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo, the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) told Rudaw on Saturday, raising fears of ethnic cleansing. Over 90 percent were sent 60 kilometers north to Afrin, the home of many Kurdish residents who were expelled to Aleppo by Turkish-backed armed groups in 2018.

The BCF is headquartered in Erbil and has an office in Afrin.

On Saturday, Syria’s pro-government media claimed that Kurdish fighters who had been resisting in the neighborhoods had surrendered and were being transported by bus to the Kurdish region in northeast Syria (Rojava). However, Kurdish security forces (Asayish) denied the report, stating that the passengers were civilians.


The SDF claimed last week that the same groups - Hamzat and the Suleiman Shah Division, also known as al-Amshat - were leading the five-day assault on Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhood. Now allied with the Islamist-led government in Damascus, the factions are sanctioned by the United States and the European Union, accused of the ethnic cleansing and massacres of Kurds, Alawites and Druze minorities. Afrin is one of their strongholds.

The Syrian Arab Army on Saturday announced it had taken control of Sheikh Maqsood in an operation aimed at expelling Kurdish fighters, who said they were continuing to fight and held pockets of the neighborhood.

The army said Kurdish fighters, whom they claimed were stationed at a civilian hospital, would have their weapons confiscated as they were transferred to the city of Tabqa, which is under the control of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The United Nations reported at least three hospitals were hit.

Syria’s foreign ministry said the operation in the predominantly Kurdish areas was limited and did not aim to change demographics in the Arab-majority city.

The BCF said it activated large-scale relief efforts on Friday for displaced residents sent to Afrin.

Ahmed Hassan, head of the Afrin local council of the Kurdish National Council (KNC/ENKS), told Rudaw that he and Syrian Social Affairs Minister Hind Kabawat conducted a needs assessment during a visit to camps in Afrin.

The ENKS is a Kurdish umbrella group of opposition parties in northeast Syria.


Soran Hussein contributed to this report from Erbil.