SOHR | “Reports of Democratic North Brigade seizing civilians’ homes in Raqqa are untrue”

Raqqa province:

Sources in Raqqa city and another from the “Democratic North Brigade”, have confirmed that reports of Democratic North Brigade seizing civilians’ homes in Raqqa are untrue.

According to Syrian Observatory sources, the accusations come as members of the Brigade hail from Idlib province and other areas that have become under the control of the Syrian regime, in an attempt to defame their image in the issue of house seizures, as do pro-Turkish factions in Afrin.

Media pages claimed that the Democratic North Brigade seized the houses under the pretext that they belong to the government of the Syrian regime.

Media outlets have accused the SDF-affiliated Northern Democratic Brigade faction of seizing residential buildings in Raqqa’s “Police residences” and forcing its population to leave their areas, which has been denied by the Democratic Northern Brigade.

In this context, a source in the command of the Northern Democratic Brigade explained that most of the Brigade members of the Arab component, from areas under the control of the regime, lived in the “Euphrates basin residences” and “Police residences” after participating in the war against the Islamic State. It is estimated that some 600 families of the Brigade are displaced from areas held by the Syrian regime, to areas held by the Syrian Democratic Forces after their recent displacement from Afrin.

Moreover, spokesman for the Northern Democratic Brigade “Mahmoud Habib” said that the Brigade is a nightmare for the regime and Turkish forces because the Brigade and its members belong to the Syrian revolution, and gained the confidence of Arab tribes in the area, east of the Euphrates.

The spokesman stressed that the destabilization of the area and sedition in the east of the Euphrates are in the interest of the Syrian regime, as the presidential elections approach.