ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdish-led forces on Thursday denied they were preventing civilians from leaving the northern Syria town of Deif Hafer as Damascus ordered residents to evacuate ahead of a planned offensive.
In a statement, the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) called on the international community to condemn Syria’s military advance and “forced displacement” of tens of thousands of civilians under evacuation orders.
The Syrian Arab Army’s Operations Command on Thursday accused Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) “terrorist militias allied with the SDF” of blocking civilians from accessing “humanitarian corridors” around Deir Hafer in the rural outskirts of Aleppo, the state media reported. The military has given residents until 5 pm local time Friday to leave the area.
Syria and its closest regional ally, Turkey, have long claimed the PKK - which is outlawed in Turkey - are fighting with the SDF. The SDF denies the claim.
Syria’s army declared Deir Hafer, Maskanah and surrounding eastern Aleppo districts “closed military zones” on Tuesday, days after seizing two Kurdish-majority Aleppo neighborhoods that were under Kurdish control for 15 years and attacking other Kurdish positions in the north.
Damascus-aligned factions are seeking to capture Kurdish-controlled areas in and around Aleppo, which would open up a strategic corridor linking the northeastern province to north-central Raqqa and increase military pressure on the SDF along the Euphrates River.
The SDF said attacks by Damascus-allied armed groups and road closures were impacting civilian movements, warning Damascus not to forcibly displace civilians.
The SDF said they “categorically deny” ministry of defense claims that it was impeding civilian evacuations and warned more than 170,000 civilians could be displaced by Syria’s offensive.
“We affirm that the disruption of civilian movement in the area is caused by the military escalation, mobilization, and continuous shelling carried out by Damascus-backed factions,” the SDF said, blaming the Syrian army for closing routes in northern and eastern Syria on January 6.
“We stress that any forced displacement of civilians under threat of the use of force by Damascus constitutes a war crime under the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute, both of which prohibit targeting civilians,” the Kurdish-led force said.
It also called on the international community, the United Nations, and human rights organizations to "condemn these dangerous practices that could lead to the displacement of more than 170,000 civilians amid harsh weather conditions."
A senior official from the Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria (Rojava) said Thursday that Kurdish officials sent a message through international mediators to the Syrian government to deescalate the conflict, but had not yet received a response.
“There has been no communication between us and the Syrian government since the attack on Aleppo,” said Elham Ahmed, a senior official of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES).