The Syrian Observatory For Human Rights

Tension and resentment in Manbij due to tens of arrests of young men by the military police for the “self-defense duty”

Areas of Manbij and al-Tabaqa in the northeastern countryside of Aleppo and the western countryside of Al-Raqqah, have experienced tension, amid discontent among the citizens, because of carrying out tens of arrests of young men by the military police forces of the Syria Democratic Forces, in order to take them to the conscription service “self-defense duty”, where both areas witnessed the spread of checkpoints and getting youths from cars and buses and the arrest of every one who is under the required age for the recruitment service into the ranks of the Syria Democratic forces, amid calls by the citizens for a sit-in to reject this decision, also the Syrian Observatory published yesterday that Manbij city which is controlled by Manbij Military Council of the Syria Democratic Forces, is witnessing resentment and tension among the citizens and the residents of the city which is located in the north-eastern countryside of Aleppo, as a result of what the sources confirmed about imposing “the duty of self-defense and the conscription” to citizens who are at the age of service between 18 and 30, and local sources confirmed to the Syrian Observatory that the city witnessed closure of the shops and strikes by the citizens protesting against imposing the conscription on the young people of the city, accompanied by alertness by the Internal Security Forces in the city, amid accusing the members by the citizens that they broke the locks of the shops, to end the strikes, amid escalation of the resentment among the citizens about these practices.

It is noteworthy that the Syria Democratic Forces managed to take the control of Manbij city in the north-eastern countryside of Aleppo, after violent clashes lasted from the end of May 2016, until August 2016, where the “Islamic State” organization was expelled completely from the city, and after the withdrawal of the organization from pockets that it stayed in with the families of its members as well as citizens that did not want to be controlled by the SDF.