News / Syria

Syrians protest against US-backed SDF militants

Friday, 09 August 2019 4:02 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 09 August 2019 4:34 PM ]

Syrians take part in a protest against US-backed Kurdish-led militants from the so-called Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeastern province of Hasakah, Syria, on August 9, 2019.

People in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah have protested against the practices of the Kurdish-led militants from the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Syria’s official news agency SANA reported that the residents of Nis Tal Village staged a protest on the road linking Tell Brak Village and the city of Qamishli on Friday against the practices of the SDF militants, including the reported kidnapping of civilians.

According to the report, the protesters burnt tires and cut off the road, demanding an end to the arbitrary practices and the release of the abducted people.

The report said that the SDF militants frequently abduct civilians in the countryside of Hasakah and Dayr al-Zawr in order to terrorize people.

Over the past few months, several rallies have been held in northern and eastern Syria in protest against the SDF militants, calling for their expulsion from the region.

On May 13, the Syrian Foreign Ministry wrote letters to the United Nations (UN)’s secretary-general and the head of the Security Council, saying that the SDF should be compelled to respect the world body’s resolutions that assert Syria’s sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity.

The US has long been providing the SDF with arms and calls them a key partner in the purported fight against the Daesh terrorist group. Many observers, however, see the support in the context of Washington’s plans to carve out a foothold in the Arab country.

That support has also angered Washington’s NATO ally Turkey, which views the militants of the People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the backbone of the SDF — as a terrorist organization tied to the homegrown Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

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