The Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES), the governing body in Rojava, said in a statement that it “follows with great concern and condemnation the ongoing severe violations amounting to war crimes, committed by the factions affiliated with the Transitional Syrian Government in Damascus.”
Deadly clashes erupted Tuesday in Aleppo’s Kurdish neighborhoods between Syrian government forces and allied jihadist factions on one side and Kurdish internal security forces, known as Asayish, on the other. At least 82 people were killed, including 43 civilians, 38 government-aligned militants, and at least one Asayish member, according to a Sunday report by the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
The Syrian state-run al-Ikhbariyah TV on Sunday cited Aleppo health authorities as saying they had received dead bodies of 24 people and 129 injured individuals since the fighting erupted on Tuesday.
DAANES said “a lot of evidence” indicates that some Damascus-affiliated factions “are composed of former Islamic State (ISIS) members” who have committed “crimes against our civilian population” in the Sheikh Maqsood and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods.
The violence comes despite a landmark agreement reached in March between Damascus and Rojava’s de facto army, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), establishing a nationwide ceasefire. Talks between the two sides are ongoing, but the latest round, held on Sunday, failed to produce tangible results, according to Syrian state media.
“These actions represent a clear and flagrant breach of previous agreements, which included guarantees for the protection of the safety and security of civilians, whether those who were forced to flee the neighborhoods or those who remained in their homes,” DAANES said.
An estimated 150,000 residents have fled Aleppo’s Kurdish-majority neighborhoods, the Erbil-based Barzani Charity Foundation told Rudaw on Saturday, raising fears of ethnic cleansing. More than 90 percent were relocated about 60 kilometers north to Afrin, which is home to many Kurds previously displaced by Turkish-backed militias in 2018.
“Despite these agreements, violations and war crimes continue systematically, with recorded instances of arbitrary arrests, insults, humiliation, and degradation of civilians,” DAANES said.
Videos circulating online show Damascus-affiliated factions detaining Kurdish civilians, verbally abusing them, and insulting corpses while calling them “pigs.”
Tens of Kurdish civilians from Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsood neighborhood have been captured and humiliated by Damascus-affiliated armed groups, in what rights observers are condemning as arbitrary detention and ethnic targeting. pic.twitter.com/KoBWXpsAe2