The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

After the release of five abductees, gunmen from Nubl and Al-Zahraa continue to abduct about 30 citizens to exchange them with a prisoner and kidnapped from the two towns

Aleppo Province – The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights: The regime forces shelled yesterday evening places in the villages of Jafr Mansur and Huber in the southern countryside of Aleppo, the regime forces also shelled places in Al-Rashideen neighborhood and Al-Layrmon area on the outskirts of the city of Aleppo, and no information about casualties was reported, while three of the five casualties who were killed yesterday by the fall of shells on the city of Aleppo, were two female children as well as a boy under the age of 18, and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published hours ago that the death toll of the people, who were killed by shells fell on the city of Aleppo, is still increasing, where it rose to 5, including a young man and a young woman, the number of casualties documented the Syrian Observatory, who were killed by the fall of more than 5 shells on places in the neighborhoods of al-Adhamiyah, al-Akramiyah, al-Hamdaniyeh and Sief al-Dawla in Aleppo city. The number of people injured due to the fall of shells also rose to at least 14 persons, including a child. The death toll is expected to be increased because if the presence of injured people in serious conditions. It is worth mentioning that the regime forces managed to control the entire city of Aleppo in late December, 2016, except areas in Jam’eyyat al-Zahra’a neighborhood.

On the other hand, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights learned that the rebel groups in the towns of Nubl and Al-Zahraa which are inhabited by citizens of the Shiite community, released five detainees of who kidnapped more than 18 days ago, they were detained in order to exchange them with two prisoners held by the factions, one of them was an emigrant who was detained by factions operating in the northern countryside of Aleppo under the command of Abou Ali Sajo, and the other is one of the gunmen loyal to the regime forces, he was captured during the battles of Ein Daqneh in the northern countryside of Aleppo weeks ago, while about 30 young men and civilian men are still being detained by the same groups in the two towns in the northern countryside of Aleppo, amid increasing the level of the resentment which prevails the area due to the insertion of citizens in the operations of exchanging prisoners of the fighters and the members.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights published on the 30th of July 2017 that a state of resentment is growing in the northern countryside of Aleppo because of an exchange of stubbornness between factions operating in the northern countryside of Aleppo and armed groups in the towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa, which are mostly inhabited by Shiite citizens in the same countryside, because each party of them detains persons and promises not to release them unless the other party releases its detainees, where tens of Syrian civilians are still held by the two armed groups of Nubl and al-Zahraa in the northern countryside of Aleppo since about a week, on the backdrop of the detention of a member of the militiamen loyal to the regime and another person from the two towns by the factions operating in the northern countryside of Aleppo. Several reliable sources informed the SOHR that 8 students and a Kurdish civilian were released by the two groups days after releasing women, who were detained with the men and the young men while they were on buses passing from Nubl and al-Zahraa. The detention of about 50 young men and men came after releasing the women in the towns of Nubl and al-Zahraa when an armed group in the towns stopped the buses carrying tens of civilians, including women, while they were moving from the northern countryside of Aleppo to Idlib, and cross sources told the Syrian Observatory that the reason for detention is that the kidnapping group demands factions operating in Izaz area, led by Commander Abu Ali Sejju, to release a Syrian young man who used to live in a European country and got detained while he was on his way coming from the Turkish border to the town of al-Nubl and al-Zahraa . The group which is consisted of the family of the young man claimed that the rebel factions operating in Izaz are the ones who kidnapped the young man and detained him, and sources also confirmed that the commander Abu Ali Sejju demands the release of 4 detainees held by the regime forces, and no information about a response from the regime forces so far.

The detention of tens of civilians in exchange for releasing a young man from the towns of al- Nubl and al-Zahraa has coincided with the impeding of negotiations to reach an agreement between the Syria Democratic Forces and the Turkish-backed rebel factions about the delivery of number of dead bodies and captives held by the SDF in return for releasing a captive of the militiamen loyal to the regime forces who were deployed earlier in the de-escalation areas in the northern countryside of Aleppo, as this captive was detained in Ein Daqneh battled on the 17th of July 2017, where the negotiations has been impeded because of the demands of the Kurdish units to negotiate with someone called Yasser al-Najjar as a representative of the factions, and there is a dispute about the number of those who will be delivered from each party. As the factions talks about the presence of 10 dead bodies, and 1 captive, in addition to another missing person and that all of them are held by the Kurdish Units, while the Kurdish Units asserted the presence of 10 dead bodies and 1 captive, and that they will be delivered in return for delivering a captive of the militiamen loyal to the regime forces who were deployed in the areas of de-escalation in the countryside of Aleppo, and reliable sources asserted to the Syrian Observatory that the family of the member the militiamen loyal to the regime that is kidnapped by the factions since the last battle of Ein Daqneh, have also detained several young men and men while they were passing through the regime-held areas, demanding the Turkish-backed factions to release their captured son who is held by the factions.