Secretary-General of the Syrian Opposition Coalition (SOC), Haitham Rahma, called on the international community to immediately stop supporting the PYD terrorist militia and holding it accountable for violations against civilians, especially the youth and children. The calls came in response to a new arrest campaign by the PYD militia against dozens of young men in the town of Manbij in rural Aleppo for forced conscription.
Rahma stressed that the PYD militia is following in the footsteps of the Assad regime in terms of arrest, repression and torture of civilians. He cited the arrest campaigns, kidnapping and torture of civilians, especially the internally displaced; the continuous targeting of civilian areas in northern Syria, and the sending of car bombs to civilian neighborhoods and popular markets.
Rahma also stressed the need to ensure accountability for the continuous violations by these militias and to lift off any international cover for them.
Local media said that the PYD militia on Sunday rounded about 60 young men at checkpoints at Tishreen Dam and Qarah Qawzaq Bridge east of Manbij and tool them to compulsory recruitment camps.
Local rights groups said that the PYD militia detained more than 20 young men in Manbij on April 17 and about 75 others in Raqqa city on November 26 for forced conscription.
(Source: SOC’s Media Department)
