“Euphrates Shield” areas and surroundings in January 2022 | Over 30 casualties in acts of violence…nearly 50 arrests…deteriorating services…growing public discontent

Since Turkish forces and their proxy factions captured several areas in Aleppo after a military operation known as “Euphrates Shield”, humanitarian crises have been emerging and worsening gradually, with violations, attacks and explosions occur almost daily. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked January’s prominent developments in these areas, which could be summarised in the following main points:

 

 

In January 2022, SOHR activists documented the death of ten people in “Euphrates Shield” areas. The fatalities breakdown is as follows:

 

-Six civilians including three children:

 

• Two men were killed in IED explosion in a military vehicle in front of the transportation directorate headquarters in Al-Isyaniyah neighbourhood in Azaz city centre.

 

• A young man was found dead near the factory of “Halawa” in Al-Zamu on the outskirts of Al-Bab city. Uncertainty surrounded the circumstances of his death.

 

• Child died of hypothermia due to the freezing temperature in Zoughara camp in Jarabulus countryside. The family of the child had been displaced from Homs city to the camp before his birth.

 

• A child was killed in an IED explosion near a cement brick factory in Al-Bab city.

 

• A child was killed after being hit with an indiscriminate gunshot in Mare’ city in northern Aleppo.

 

-Three combatants:

 

• A militiaman was killed in clashes with regime forces on Faykhat Hamdan frontline.

 

• A gunman was killed in a family fight between Omayrat and Al-Sha’baan families.

 

• A militiaman of the “National Army” was shot dead by unknown gunmen in Al-Hedayriyah neighbourhood near Qabaseen junction.

 

-A man blew himself up with a booby-trapped motorcycle in Al-Bab city.

 

SOHR also documented the injury of over 21 people in acts of violence in January.

 

 

Also, in January, “Euphrates Shield” areas experienced four explosions, with the first taking place on January 2, where a grenade thrown by unknown gunmen riding a motorcycle exploded in a car near Al-Kaff roundabout in Zamzam neighbourhood in Al-Bab city centre.

 

The second explosion was on January 13, when two members of the military police were killed in IED explosion in a vehicle in Al-Isyaniyah neighbourhood in Azaz city centre.

 

While the third explosion took place on the same day, January 13, where a booby-trapped motorcycle exploded in Al-Bab city, leaving the man who was riding it dead, as well as the injury of several people who were in the site of the explosion.

 

The last explosion in “Euphrates Shield” areas in January was documented on 25, as an IED exploded in a cement brick factory near the junction of Qabaseen village in Al-Bab city. The explosion resulted in the death of a child and injuries to three workers.

 

 

Besides, two infightings occurred in “Euphrates Shield” areas in January 2022, as clashes erupted on January 8 between two groups of Liwaa Al-Waqqas in Mare’ city in northern Aleppo, which left a gunman dead and others injured. On January 27, a young man was killed and others sustained various injuries due to violent clashes with guns between two families in Yousef Bek village in Jarabulus countryside.

 

SOHR documented the arrest of nearly 50 people in “Euphrates Shield” areas and surroundings in January for “belonging and dealing with ISIS”, “dealing with Jabhat Al-Akrad” and other charges.

 

Moreover, Observatory activists documented the kidnapping of four persons in these areas in the past month; they are as follows:

 

• January 10: Unknown gunmen in a car kidnapped a young woman from Tashtan village in Jarabulus countryside.

 

• January 29: Unknown gunmen kidnapped a young man from Azaz city, while he was heading from Azaz city to Afrin.

 

• January 31: Two young men from Mare’ city in the northern countryside of Aleppo were kidnapped by unknown gunmen, while they were heading to their work. One of the kidnapped people works in Mare’ hospital.

 

 

Furthermore, SOHR activists documented three assaults by Turkish-backed militiamen, where a member of Sultan Murad humiliated and verbally abused his daughter, on January 1, with the aim to exert pressure on his wife.

 

Similarly, on January 11, a member of “Al-Jabha Al-Shamiyyah” beat her wife brutally and held her in a house, preventing her from communicating with her family in Idlib province for unknown reasons.

 

On January 25, members of the military police stationed at a checkpoint at the entrance of Azaz city in Aleppo countryside stopped a civilian from Hama, undressed him, seized his mobile phone and accessed into private files on his phone, despite his appeals not to access to these files. The civilian was released only after paying a ransom of 2,000 TL.

 

 

“Euphrates Shield” areas and surroundings witnessed routine popular protests in January 2022, where protestors condemned the dire living conditions and poor services.

 

 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) renews its appeals to the international community to protect civilians in “Euphrates Shield” areas, amid the state of chaos and insecurity which manifest itself in the daily robberies, murders, kidnappings and arrests in plain sight of the Turkish forces and with participation of pro-Ankara factions.