SDF-held areas in May 2022 | 23 deaths in acts of violence…noticeable rise of crimes…considerable military escalation by Turkish forces…subsiding ISIS activity
SOHR calls for protecting civilians, guaranteeing their rights, and putting an end to violations by “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah”
Areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), (SDF-held areas) experienced in May 2022 scores of incidents of security disorder and violations against human rights. In this context, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked all key developments in SDF-held areas in the past month.
Deaths in acts of violence
SOHR documented the death of 23 people in May 2022 in light of the ongoing acts of violence in SDF-held areas. Here are further details of those deaths:
-14 civilians:
- 11 civilians, including a little and three women, were murdered for several motives, such as family disputes and robberies.
- Three civilians, were killed in attacks by ISIS cells.
-Four combatants:
- An SDF fighters was killed in an attack by ISIS cells.
- An SDF fighter was killed by other SDF fighters in Abu Al-Naytal village in northern Deir Ezzor.
- Two SDF fighters were killed in clashes with suspects in the villages of Al-Tawamiyah, Barsham and Harizah in Deir Ezzor countryside.
-Three people were killed in Turkish drone attacks.
-A gunman was killed in a family fight in Al-Malikiyah countryside (Dayrek) in Al-Hasakah province.
-An ISIS member, who had fled from Ghuwayran prison, was found dead in Al-Kassar village in northern Deir Ezzor.
Subsiding activity by ISIS affiliates
ISIS continued its operations in areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration, where it carried out several armed attacks and assassinations through gunfire, attacks with sharp tools and planting IEDs and landmines.
The past month, May, experienced considerable subsiding activity by ISIS cells, after the remarkable escalation of attacks in April.
The Syrian Observatory documented six operations, including armed attacks and explosions, carried out by ISIS cells in SDF-held areas in May 2022. According to SOHR statistics, these attacks left four people: three civilians and one combatant, dead.
Meanwhile, Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), backed by the International Coalition, continued their large-scale security campaigns to eliminate ISIS and its cells and put an end to their activity in SDF-held areas, particularly in Deir Ezzor, Al-Hasakah and Al-Raqqah.
According to SOHR activists, anti-ISIS campaigns in May 2022 led to the arrest of 13 people for “communicating with and belonging to ISIS.”
Moreover, SOHR documented the arrest of nine people in May by security forces operating in areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration for unknown reasons.
Noticeable escalation of crime rate and ongoing public protests
Areas controlled by the Autonomous Administration provinces experienced ongoing protests and demonstrations in May, where the protestors expressed anger and unhappiness with the deteriorating services and dreadful living conditions. The protestors’ demands included the provision of basic essentials, the release of detainees, price controls, increase of fuel allowances and securing of job opportunities.
In this context, SOHR activists reported in early May that dozens of residents from Muhaymidah town in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor gathered in the town, expressing their rejection of the assault by SDF members stationed at a military checkpoint against a civilian who refused to stop at the checkpoint. The protestors captured SDF headquarters and held SDF members who were released later under mediations by tribes’ dignitaries and commanders of “Deir Ezzor Military Council” and after promises of releasing the arrested civilians and putting an end to SDF assaults against civilians.
While on May 11, residents staged a sit-in protest in front of the headquarters of the civil council in Al-Kasrah town in the western countryside of Deir Ezzor, protesting the dire living conditions and demanding the change of officials in charge of bread distribution in the town.
Separately, SDF-controlled areas experienced noticeable rise in the rate of crimes in light of the increasing security chaos. In May, SOHR activists documented 11 murders for several motives, such as family disputes and robberies. These murders left 11 people, including a little girl and three women, dead; they were distributed regionally as follows:
- Al-Hasakah province: Five people, including a woman and a little girl.
- Al-Raqqah city: Three people.
- Deir Ezzor province: Two women.
- Ain Al-Arab countryside (Kobani): A young man.
Ongoing military escalation by Turkish forces
Turkish military operations, including ground attacks and airstrikes by drones, were documented in areas under the control of the Autonomous Administration on a daily basis in May. Specifically, SOHR sources reported bombardment with rockets and artillery shells fired by Turkish forces and their proxy factions over the past month, targeting different positions in Al-Hasakah, Al-Raqqah and Aleppo countryside. In addition SOHR activists documented four attacks by Turkish drones which killed three people, including a woman, and injured seven others.
Ongoing recruitment of children by “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah”
“Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah” (the Revolutionary Youth) continues attracting and luring minors to serve in its military ranks, blatantly violating human rights and international resolutions that the Autonomous Administrations and Syria Democratic Forces have signed, while neither the residents’ demands to stop exploiting and recruiting children to military ranks nor the international charters managed to put an end to the recruitment of children by “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah,”
On May 10, A 12-year-old girl known by her initials as A. A. was kidnapped, amid accusations by her family against “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah” (the Revolutionary Youth) of “kidnapping the girl.” The girl went missing in the market of Al-Qamishli city, where her family were informed that members of “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah” kidnapped the girl with the aim of recruiting her in its camp.
Also, a 13-year-old girl known as M. M. went missing in Al-Raqqah city on May 15, amid accusations by her family against “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah” of “kidnapping the girl with the aim of recruiting her.”
While on May 23, SOHR sources reported that Al-Shabibah Al-Thawriyah kept silent regarding the disappear of a young girl known by her initials as H. M. who resorted to them three days earlier, where the girl and her brother went to the headquarters of Al-Shabibah Al-Thawriyah, after they had finished the second-term exams. The boy was sent back to his house a few hours later, but the girl arrived in a centre of Al-Shabibah Al-Thawriyah in Al-Qamishly city in order to be recruited into its military ranks, according to local sources. It is worth noting that the girl is 14 years old, and she is from Monir Al-Habib street in a neighbourhood in the western part of Al-Qamishly city in Al-Hasakah countryside.
We, at the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), call upon the authorities in SDF-held areas to fulfil people’s demands that call for the improvement of social and living conditions and not punish them for demanding their rights. We also call on the International Coalition and SDF to intensify their security campaigns against active and sleeping ISIS cells in various areas in east Euphrates to prevent the revival of ISIS which poses a threat to local, regional and international security.
SOHR calls upon the Autonomous Administration in north and east Syria, Syria Democratic Forces, and all relevant authorities to put an end to the ongoing violations by “Al-Shabiba Al-Thawriyah” (the Revolutionary Youth) in the east Euphrates region.