Turkish mercenary offensive over North East Syria updates

Highlights

• Around 75K individuals displaced from Aleppo and environs into North and East Syria

• Thousands sleeping outside in freezing conditions, multiple deaths reported, urgent need for shelter and other humanitarian relief.

• Grave risk of imminent Turkish-backed assault against DAANES-governed Manbij, with multi-ethnic population of c.300K, creating further destabilization.

• Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh neighborhoods remain under a state of siege by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, as violence targets Yezidis and Kurds attempting to flee Islamist forces.

Forcible displacement into North and East Syria

• C. 75,000 people displaced from Aleppo and environs into North and East Syria, primarily Kurds alongside other minorities, as well as Arabs (OCHA: 10K family groups; DAANES: 75-100K individuals; MEE; 120K individuals).

• Thousands slept outside across the past two nights in freezing temperatures, with at least three deaths of elderly people reported by RIC sources.

• Tens of thousands have been transferred out of Shehba/Tel Rifaat region, seized two days ago by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army militias which previously drove the bulk of the Kurdish population and all Yazidis and Christians out of the Afrin region in 2018.

• Thousands more Arab IDPs have arrived fleeing generalized violence across north-west Syria

• Two reception centers have been set up in Raqqa and Tabqa. In addition to the temporary camps, schools and gymnasiums have been prepared to host IDPs.

• Dozens arrived with injuries from attacks by the Syrian National Army (SNA), as humanitarian organizations call on the international community to help.

• Buses will be deployed from Tabqa to go back and retrieve any civilians who have not evacuated the Shehba region. He said the buses will be under protection to ensure the civilians can be transported safely.

• The Co-chair of Afrin and Shahba Council, Muhammad Sheikho, said: “The IDPs who have arrived have been sleeping outside for the past 48-72 hours. There is no room for them, until shelter has been set up. Others have been unable to leave, and there’s no information from them, while others are stuck on the way here, as their cars have broken down. All DAANES hospitals have been directed to offer care for free, but there remains an urgent need for medical support, particularly due to the extreme cold.”

Situation in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyeh, isolated Kurdish neighborhoods

• Isolated Kurdish neighborhoods continue to suffer conditions of siege after remainder of Aleppo was captured by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).

• Negotiations between the SDF/DAANES and surrounding HTS forces continue, with SDF representatives stating that locals will decide whether to leave or remain.

• Further outflow of civilian refugees into DAANES expected regardless of outcome, though many thousands will also remain in the neighborhoods.

• A Christian living in Sheikh Maqsoud says: “Our situation as Christians is getting difficult. As soon as [HTS] entered Aleppo, they destroyed a Christmas tree [as a symbol of the Christian community]. They are assuring us that they will not harm us, but we are lost. We don’t know what to do. Prices of food are getting crazily high, there are bread shortages, and we have stopped going to work.”

Violence against civilians and the DAANES

• DAANES officials warn of a grave risk of a Turkish assault against Manbij, a multi-ethnic city west of the Euphrates and home to 300,000+ individuals forming an integral part of the multi-ethnic DAANES model of governance.

• Attacks continued by the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army in the Euphrates canton of DAANES along the line of contact near Manbij and Kobane, with advances.

• At least three Kurdish civilians have been shot dead by the SNA while attempting to flee in the Aleppo countryside, according to local rights monitors.

• Attacks, robbery and extortion targeting fleeing Kurdish civilians have also been reported, again on behalf of SNA militias.

Deir Ez-Zor Region

SDF advances against pro-Assad and Iranian forces

• Syrian Democratic Forces launched an operation against seven villages in the eastern countryside of the Deiz ez-Zor region, which had been controlled by Syrian Arab Army (SAA) forces and Iranian-backed militias and used as a staging-ground to attack the SDF.

• The offensive supported by airstrikes on areas controlled by Iranian-backed militias attributed to the U.S.-led International Coalition.

• In their statement, the SDF claimed that their offensive came in response to the recent developments in western Syria, as well as potential ISIS activity.

• After fierce fighting, control of the seven villages remains contested, with at least one civilian and a member of the SDF reported killed.