The Syrian Coalition said that the liberation of Raqqa from ISIS must be carried out by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), stressing that repressive practices by the militia of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) mean the group should not take part in the liberation of the city.
Member of the Coalition’s political committee Yasser Farhan cited the FSA’s restoration of security to areas liberated from the ISIS extremist group in northern rural Aleppo as part of Operation Shield of the Euphrates. Tens of thousands of displaced people were able to return to their homes in the area as a result, Farhan added.
Militias of the PYD have committed violations and war crimes in their previous military operations in northern Syria, including murder, mass arbitrary arrests, looting, arson of houses and shops, and the displacement of Syrians of various components of society.
Farhan criticized the US support for the PYD militias. “US forces intervened in Manbij to maintain the presence of the PYD elements in the town, while remained silent on the crimes of forced displacement in many Syrian towns and villages, most recently in the district of Waer in Homs.”
“Washington is imposing a de facto no-fly zone in the areas under the control of the PYD militias unlike on the rebel-held areas which are subjected to constant bombardment by the Assad regime’s air force which uses barrel bombs, cluster bombs, napalm, chlorine gas, and sarin in the shelling of these areas,” Farhan added.
Farhan pointed out that the PYD militias continue to commit war crimes by giving the US-led coalition forces wrong coordinates to bomb populated areas thus forcing the local populations to flee their homes.
Farhan concluded his remarks by stressing that tyranny and terrorism reinforce each other. Terrorism in Syria will be eliminated only when Syrians can have decent living conditions and freedom and dignity which they have been demanding since the start of the revolution. This requires the departure of Assad in order for stability and peace in Syria and the region to be restored. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
