“Peace Spring” areas in June 2022 | Seven fatalities in acts of violence…ongoing factional and tribal fightings
SOHR renews its call to the international community to protect civilians from systematic abuse and violations by Turkish-backed factions
Human rights violations have been escalating in areas under the control of Turkish forces and their proxy factions in Al-Hasakah and Al-Raqqah, known as “Peace Spring” areas, since they were captured in October 2019. These forces’ aim is to accomplish specific economic and political objectives through exploiting the region’s wealth, resources and people.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) has monitored and tracked all developments and violations committed in “Peace Spring” areas in June 2022.
In June, seven people were killed in “Peace Spring” areas, and they were as follows:
-Four civilians:
- Three civilians were killed in shelling on areas in Tel Abyad.
- A man was shot dead by robbers in Ras Al-Ain (Sere Kaniye).
-Three combatants:
- Two fighters were killed in factional infightings in Tel Dhiab village in Ras Al-Ain/Sere Kaniye countryside.
- A combatant was killed by ground bombardment on Tel Abyad city.
“Peace Spring” areas experienced no explosions in June 2022. However, two infightings and factional rivalries took place in that region, leaving two combatants dead, and five with various injuries. Here are further details:
- June 15: Armed fight broke out between Ahrar Al-Sharqiyyah and Al-Hamza faction in Ras Al-Ain (Sere Kaniye) area in Al-Hasakah countryside due to a dispute over the seizure of houses by a member of Al-Hamza Division. A day after the factional infighting, two Al-Hamza members were injured after being shot by unidentified gunmen in Ras Al-Ain.
- June 18: Violent clashes with heavy weapons and RPGs broke out between Ahrar Al-Sharqiyyah faction on one hand, and the “20th Division” and “Al-Hamza Division” on the other in Tel Dhiab village in Ras Al-Ain countryside. The violent fighting triggered civilian exodus from Tel Dhiab village and left two militiamen dead and three others seriously injured. Moreover, Al-Hamza members seized the headquarters and posts of Ahrar Al-Sharqiyyah faction.
Military drills
- On June 4, Turkish forces and their proxy factions of various “National Army” formations conducted military exercises in Ras Al-Ain/ Sere Kaniye area, north-west of Al-Hasakah province on the Turkey-Syria border. This coincided with the propaganda by Turkish media outlets about an imminent military operation and incursion into areas of north-eastern Syria.
- On June 18, Turkish-backed factions, in the presence of Turkish officers, conducted live-fire exercises in eastern Ras Al-Ain/Sere Kaniye countryside in Al-Hasakah countryside in “Peace Spring” area near the frontlines with areas controlled by SDF and regime forces west of Abu Rasin. These military exercises came as a part of Turkey’s escalation and a potential military operation in areas controlled by SDF.
- On the same day, June 18, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu arrived in Tel Abyad, north of Al-Raqqah, on an inspection tour of settlements constructed by Turkish organisations under the pretext of “establishing a safe zone for Syrians.”
Violations and thefts by Turkish-backed militias
On June 27, shopkeepers in Ras Al-Ain/Sere Kaniye city in ” Peace Spring” area demonstrated outside the Turkey-backed “local council” after they went on a strike and closed their shops, protesting the burglary of a shop in the centre of the city market by members of “Al-Hamza Division” of “National Army” and abuses by faction members against shop owners by imposing levies on them by force and looting goods from certain shops.
While on June 28, the Health Committee and the civil police closed some pharmacies and confiscated medicines in Ras Al-Ain city in “Peace Spring” areas in Al-Hasakah countryside.
On the other hand, disputes sparked between the owners of the pharmacies on one hand, and the Health Committee of the Local Council and civil police on the other, where civil police members opened fire to defuse the disputes.
According to reliable SOHR sources, the Health Committee of the Local Council in Ras Al-Ain gave the pharmacies’ owners a time limit to obtain licences and certificates from the Local Council, but some pharmacists did not react, increasing the tension.
Moreover, members of Suqor Al-Shamal faction intervened and opened live fire in the air to stop the disputes and halt the Health Committee’s work until the disputes were over.
Additionally, the Health Committee confiscated huge amounts of medicine, and publicly burnt some of them and returned another portion of medicine to the owners after receiving bribes.
Overall, this bleak picture remains in place, with the widespread corruption and tyranny of the Turkish-backed factions without any deterrent preventing them from committing further humanitarian crimes against Syrian civilians in the “Peace Spring” areas.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, therefore, renews its appeal to the international community not to abandon its responsibility and obligations and find a lasting solution to the tragedy of the region’s civilians that are plagued with systematic abuse and violations committed by lawless factions, including thefts, murders, looting, arrests and kidnappings.
