ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Damascus-allied armed groups were seen detaining Kurdish men in Aleppo as civilians fled fierce clashes in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods on Saturday.
Rudaw footage showed armed groups affiliated with the Syrian Arab Army arresting Kurdish men in civilian clothing. They were being detained at checkpoints in the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood, where the Syrian army launched an operation to expel Kurdish fighters who have held the area for over a decade.
An estimated 150,000 residents have fled Kurdish-majority neighborhoods in Aleppo, the Barzani Charity Foundation (BCF) told Rudaw on Saturday, raising fears of ethnic cleansing. Over 90 percent were sent 60 kilometers north to Afrin, the home of many Kurdish residents who were expelled to Aleppo by Turkish-backed armed groups in 2018.
The BCF is headquartered in Erbil and has an office in Afrin.
On Saturday, Syria’s pro-government media claimed that Kurdish fighters who had been resisting in the neighborhoods had surrendered and were being transported by bus to the Kurdish region in northeast Syria (Rojava). However, Kurdish security forces (Asayish) denied the report, stating that the passengers were civilians.
Armed factions affiliated with Damascus separate men from their families as civilians flee intense clashes in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood. pic.twitter.com/pry5gVZqen