An article released by @guardian alleges at least 2 former ISIS members were freed from SDF prisons in exchange for bribes worth several thousands of USD.
These cases stand in contrast to the AANES' legal & rehabilitation efforts on this issue.
AANES practiced a tribal-guarantee program for the return of prisoners until 2020, when, following popular demand & consultations, the system changed to offer amnesties through the NES' local councils.
Low-level criminals, the sick, & over-75s were freed during this period.
Yet those suspected of serious involvement with ISIS remained in SDF custody.
This move was meant to “help bolster [local] tribal heads’ credibility with their populations while also improving Kurdish relations with the tribes,” according to the US Institute for Peace.
As well as revitalizing community relations, the 2020 Amnesty Law intended to relieve pressure from NES' jails &, together with deradicalization programs, democratize the local justice system.
These efforts represent a possible threat to NES' security, particularly in unstable areas such as Deir ez-Zor.
While @RojavaIC's Sleeper Cell reports did not show a correlation between releases (12,571 men, women & children to date) & an increase in attacks, this risk remains.
While individual cases of corruption are possible, the release of 2 ISIS members in return for bribes, which SDF spox @farhad_shami has denied happened, poses a striking & unnecessary security risk for NES.
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.
@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.