Shop owners in the town of Manbij in rural Aleppo went on a strike to protest the death of two youngsters under torture at the hands of the militia of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) last Thursday.
Anadolu Agency said the closure of the shops in the main public market in Manbij came in answer to calls by activists on social media denouncing the actions of the PYD militias, the latest of which was the death of two civilians under torture.
Anadolu Agency quoted local sources as saying that the PYD militia were force reopening the closed shops in an attempt to end the strike.
Hundreds of civilians on Friday took to the streets of Manbij to demonstrate against the death of the two youngsters.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Council of the Syrian Tribes condemned the PYD militia’s killing of the two young men, saying that the PYD militias have been long involved in crimes against civilians.
On Thursday, residents of the town found the bodies of the two young men; Hanan al-Jeri, 25, and Aboud al-Mahanan, 23, who were held by the PYD militia. Sources told Anadolu Agency that the bodies showed signs of torture, with one of them being beheaded.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the bodies were found on the outskirts of the village of Qabir Imo near the Euphrates River, 20 kilometers east of Manbij.
The sources said that families of the victims recognized them after photos of the bodies were published on social media sites. The discovery sparked armed clashes between the angry residents and the PYD militant in central Manbij, without reports of casualties.
In its latest annual report of 2018, the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) said that more than 2,500 civilians were detained by the PYD militia in 2018, adding that at least 10 people were killed under torture in the PYD prisons. Rights activists accuse the militia of forcibly disappearing more than 1,500 people. (Source: Syrian Coalition’s Media Department)
