Yesterday, the Special Forces of the Asayish (HAT) foiled an attempt by an ISIS cell to break out other members from the Ghuweyran prison in Heseke.
In retaliation, ISIS cells in Deir ez-Zor attacked multiple buildings belonging to the SDF.
According to the SDF, HAT forces in Jazeera were tipped off to the cell planning a breakout of around 5,000 ISIS detainees from Ghuweyran prison in Heseke city.
HAT located the cell in the village of Abu Khashab & raided it at dawn on 8.11.
During the raid, HAT arrested 5 suspects and fatally shot another. With the help of @coalition aircraft, it destroyed a booby-trapped vehicle which was to be used during the breakout.
After the raid, ISIS sleeper cells in Deir ez-Zor mounted at least 4 confirmed attacks in & around Busayrah, 30km SE of Deir ez-Zor.
The SDF HQ there was attacked with rockets and firearms, resulting in at least 3 injuries. The SDF sent reinforcements from their Koniko base.
6km SE, in al-Shahil, an SDF base was attacked with machinegun fire. Further downriver, in al-Thiba, an SDF position was attacked with rockets & gunfire. Another attack occurred in the town of al-Zar. Local sources furthermore reported an attack on an SDF checkpoint near Dama.
According to the SDF, 2 leading ISIS figures were arrested last night with the help of direct air support by US aircraft.
ISIS sleeper cell attacks last month were almost entirely centred in Deir ez-Zor. Read more in our latest Report:
@RojavaIC continues to monitor the reconstruction of the city of Raqqa. Roughly 60% of the city was left destroyed after a decade of war. Today, more than half of these structures have been rebuilt.
According to city co-Chair Leila Mustafa:
📌 25/26 electrical stations have been repaired. In April, 40% of the city still did not have electricity.
📌 Raqqa has been successfully demined.
📌 The city is welcoming private housing developers, with 10 approved so far.
Mustafa added: "We are working as hard as we can [on reconstruction] with the resources that we have. But we need international support to continue rebuilding. We want NES to be a model for the world."
Read our last thread on Raqqa's reconstruction here:
A report released 3.11 by the Dutch peace NGO 'PAX' has highlighted the construction of 3 dams along the Khabour River by Turkish-backed SNA groups between late May and early June 2021.
The 3 dams were constructed south of Turkish-occupied Sere Kaniye, near Tel Tamir.
According to the report, 53.7% of the Khabour's water flow between Turkey and Hesekeh city was halted by the 3 dams, leaving over 84 towns and villages that depend on the river for sustenance & agriculture without access to water.
Together with low rainfall in the Spring of 2021 and deliberate efforts by the Turkish government to drastically decrease water flow into NES, the water levels in Syria have seen a 70% decrease.
The @nytimes recently published an article about the Turkish occupation of Afrin, calling it a ‘safe zone’. The article contains several inaccuracies about the situation on the ground, outlined below:
The Afrin canton has seen virtually no combat during the Syrian Civil War. Religious minorities were protected under the AANES and its predecessors in this overwhelmingly Kurdish region. An estimated 316,000 internally-displaced Syrians - both Kurdish and Arab - fled to Afrin.
The invasion’s raison d'être does not hold up to scrutiny. Turkey accused the PYD/YPG forces in Afrin of launching “more than 700 attacks” against Turkish cities. However, upon further investigation, only 15 confirmed incidents of cross-border attacks from Afrin emerged.
It's one year since Turkey's assault against the Syrian Kurds.
Scores of former ISIS members are now being sheltered, funded and protected by Turkey in regions Turkey occupied and cleansed of Kurdish residents, a new @RojavaIC report reveals.
Since the ‘Peace Spring’ operation green-lit by Donald Trump, Turkey has been installing Sunni Arab militias in this formerly diverse, tolerant and secular region, responsible for a wide range of war crimes and atrocities against the civilian population.
Now, a new @RojavaIC report reveals the IDs of over 40 former ISIS members being sheltered, funded and protected by Turkey
They include ISIS commanders, fighters and emirs now on the Turkish payroll, using Turkish-issued ID cards and receiving commands from Turkish intelligence.
All 25,000 Syrian nationals will be released from Hol Camp in a "general amnesty", vastly relieving pressure on the camp & meeting demands from local Arab communities, Syrian Democratic Council chief @ElhamAhmadSDC announces at a public consultation in Raqqa.
"Hol Camp is a heavy burden on the shoulders of the AANES," said Ms. Ahmed.
"AANES is not obliged to pay exorbitant sums in order to provide these people with food and other things, let alone [deal with] the problems that arise daily including assassinations, rape, and so on."
"A ruling will be issued to empty the camp of Syrian nationals. Those who remain in the camp will no longer be the responsibility of AANES, meaning they will be considered to be detainees."
The Syrian nationals will be returned home in increments under tribal sponsorship.
Public consultations across North and East Syria continue, with tribal sheikhs, opposition politicians and civil society activists meeting to share feedback, criticism and proposals.
We joined this week's meeting in Raqqa, to hear from local figureheads like Sheikh Talal:
We followed the whole meeting to record complaints, feedback and proposals from the population of Raqqa, three years on from its liberation from ISIS.
Attendees voiced criticism on local issues concerning service provision and political participation.
On the macro-political level, there was a stronger sense of unity with the SDC line.
As in Heseke, there was wide-spread opposition even to dialog with the Syrian Government, let alone rapprochement, though some attendees acknowledged the practical necessity of negotiations.