Yep. While I despise ISIS as much as I would espise Nazis, I also want that shitc*** regime to die already.
ISIS in Iraq and Syria
- Thread starter Suli
- Start date
This morning's map:
According to Amnesty the YPG have not been behaving as angels in the territories they've taken from ISIS recently:
Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' - Amnesty
Kurdish forces have carried out a wave of forced displacement and mass house demolitions - amounting to war crimes - in northern Syria, a rights group says.
A report by Amnesty International accuses the Popular Protection Units (YPG) of razing entire villages after capturing them from Islamic State (IS).
This appeared to be in retaliation for residents' perceived sympathies with or links to the jihadist group, it says.
The YPG has consistently denied accusations of forced displacements.
However, the YPG - a key ally of the US-led international coalition against IS - and its political parent the PYD have admitted to some "isolated incidents".
Coalition air strikes, as well as air drops of weapons and ammunition, have helped the militia to drive IS out of large parts of northern Syria this year.
The Amnesty report came as the US said it had dropped more than 45 tonnes of ammunition to rebels in north-western Syria.
Civilians 'caught in middle'
On Tuesday, Amnesty said its researchers had uncovered evidence of "alarming abuses" carried out by the YPG - the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) - in towns and villages controlled by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in Hassakeh and Raqqa provinces.
Its report quoted one witness in the village of Husseiniya, in Hassakeh province, as saying: "They pulled us out of our homes and began burning the home... they brought the bulldozers... They demolished home after home until the entire village was destroyed."
Satellite images illustrated the scale of the demolitions in Husseiniya, Amnesty said. Of 225 buildings visible in June 2014, only 14 were still standing by June 2015.
Meanwhile, in villages south of the town of Suluk, some residents told Amnesty's researchers that YPG fighters had accused them of supporting IS and threatened to shoot them if they did not leave.
While in some cases residents acknowledged that there had been a handful of IS supporters in their villages, the majority did not back the jihadist group, Amnesty concluded.
In other cases, residents alleged that YPG fighters had ordered them to leave, threatening them with air strikes if they failed to comply.
"They told us we had to leave or they would tell the US coalition that we were terrorists and their planes would hit us and our families," one person told Amnesty's researchers.
In one incident, YPG fighters allegedly poured petrol on a house, threatening to set it alight with the inhabitants inside.
Amnesty said the YPG had sought to justify its actions, insisting that they were necessary for the civilians' own protection or militarily necessary.
"In its fight against IS, the Autonomous Administration appears to be trampling all over the rights of civilians who are caught in the middle," Amnesty's senior crisis adviser Lama Fakih warned.
The YPG is part of a new alliance of Arab and Kurdish groups, called the Democratic Forces of Syria, which was announced on Monday.
A Pentagon spokesman said C-17 transport aircraft, supported by fighter escorts, had dropped pallets of supplies overnight to Syrian Arab groups fighting IS in Hassakeh province.
It said the rebel leaders had been vetted by the US.
The air-drop comes days after the US abandoned a $500m (£326m) plan to train thousands of "moderate" rebels to fight IS.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34511134
Kurds on Twitter are of course denying the allegations.
Syria Kurds 'razing villages seized from IS' - Amnesty
Kurdish forces have carried out a wave of forced displacement and mass house demolitions - amounting to war crimes - in northern Syria, a rights group says.
A report by Amnesty International accuses the Popular Protection Units (YPG) of razing entire villages after capturing them from Islamic State (IS).
This appeared to be in retaliation for residents' perceived sympathies with or links to the jihadist group, it says.
The YPG has consistently denied accusations of forced displacements.
However, the YPG - a key ally of the US-led international coalition against IS - and its political parent the PYD have admitted to some "isolated incidents".
Coalition air strikes, as well as air drops of weapons and ammunition, have helped the militia to drive IS out of large parts of northern Syria this year.
The Amnesty report came as the US said it had dropped more than 45 tonnes of ammunition to rebels in north-western Syria.
Civilians 'caught in middle'
On Tuesday, Amnesty said its researchers had uncovered evidence of "alarming abuses" carried out by the YPG - the military wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) - in towns and villages controlled by the Kurdish Autonomous Administration in Hassakeh and Raqqa provinces.
Its report quoted one witness in the village of Husseiniya, in Hassakeh province, as saying: "They pulled us out of our homes and began burning the home... they brought the bulldozers... They demolished home after home until the entire village was destroyed."
Satellite images illustrated the scale of the demolitions in Husseiniya, Amnesty said. Of 225 buildings visible in June 2014, only 14 were still standing by June 2015.
Meanwhile, in villages south of the town of Suluk, some residents told Amnesty's researchers that YPG fighters had accused them of supporting IS and threatened to shoot them if they did not leave.
While in some cases residents acknowledged that there had been a handful of IS supporters in their villages, the majority did not back the jihadist group, Amnesty concluded.
In other cases, residents alleged that YPG fighters had ordered them to leave, threatening them with air strikes if they failed to comply.
"They told us we had to leave or they would tell the US coalition that we were terrorists and their planes would hit us and our families," one person told Amnesty's researchers.
In one incident, YPG fighters allegedly poured petrol on a house, threatening to set it alight with the inhabitants inside.
Amnesty said the YPG had sought to justify its actions, insisting that they were necessary for the civilians' own protection or militarily necessary.
"In its fight against IS, the Autonomous Administration appears to be trampling all over the rights of civilians who are caught in the middle," Amnesty's senior crisis adviser Lama Fakih warned.
The YPG is part of a new alliance of Arab and Kurdish groups, called the Democratic Forces of Syria, which was announced on Monday.
A Pentagon spokesman said C-17 transport aircraft, supported by fighter escorts, had dropped pallets of supplies overnight to Syrian Arab groups fighting IS in Hassakeh province.
It said the rebel leaders had been vetted by the US.
The air-drop comes days after the US abandoned a $500m (£326m) plan to train thousands of "moderate" rebels to fight IS.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34511134
Kurds on Twitter are of course denying the allegations.
Report: Syrian Kurdish forces razed Arab villages
Rights group Amnesty International says fighters destroyed homes and expelled civilians from areas captured from ISIL.
Amnesty International has accused Kurdish armed units in northern Syria of razing Arab and Turkmen villages, actions it says amounted to war crimes.
A report published by the rights group on Tuesday included witness accounts of fighters displacing thousands of civilians of Arab and Turkmen background, and the destruction of homes.
The alleged abuses took place in areas administered by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Researchers visited 14 towns and villages controlled by Kurdish forces in Hasakah and Raqqa provinces, where fighters had retaken territory previously held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
"This report uncovers clear evidence of a deliberate, co-ordinated campaign of collective punishment of civilians in villages previously captured by [ISIL]," said Amnesty's Lama Fakih.
Satellite images obtained by the group showed 225 buildings standing in the village of Husseiniyah in Tel Amees in June 2014, but only 14 remaining a year later.
Witnesses said the PYD's armed wing (YPG) began a campaign of destroying homes and expulsions when it took the village from ISIL in February 2014.
"They pulled us out of our homes and began burning the home … they brought the bulldozers ... . They demolished home after home until the entire village was destroyed," said one witness.
US air strikes
In other cases, the YPG threatened to call in US air strikes if villagers refused to leave.
The fighters have been backed in their fight against ISIL by US, which arms them and provides air cover.
Only 14 of 225 buildings in Husseiniyah were left standing after Kurdish forces took the city from ISIL in February [Amnesty International]
In another attack, Kurdish fighters are alleged to have doused a house with petrol and set it alight while its residents were still inside.
The villagers were accused by the fighters of supporting ISIL.
Amnesty International says it spoke to Kurdish leaders who said the incidents were isolated, while the YPG says civilians were moved for their own safety.
"It is critical that the US-led coalition fighting [ISIL] in Syria and all other states supporting the Autonomous Administration, or co-ordinating with it militarily, do not turn a blind eye to such abuses," Fakih said.
Rights group Amnesty International says fighters destroyed homes and expelled civilians from areas captured from ISIL.
Amnesty International has accused Kurdish armed units in northern Syria of razing Arab and Turkmen villages, actions it says amounted to war crimes.
A report published by the rights group on Tuesday included witness accounts of fighters displacing thousands of civilians of Arab and Turkmen background, and the destruction of homes.
The alleged abuses took place in areas administered by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Researchers visited 14 towns and villages controlled by Kurdish forces in Hasakah and Raqqa provinces, where fighters had retaken territory previously held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group.
"This report uncovers clear evidence of a deliberate, co-ordinated campaign of collective punishment of civilians in villages previously captured by [ISIL]," said Amnesty's Lama Fakih.
Satellite images obtained by the group showed 225 buildings standing in the village of Husseiniyah in Tel Amees in June 2014, but only 14 remaining a year later.
Witnesses said the PYD's armed wing (YPG) began a campaign of destroying homes and expulsions when it took the village from ISIL in February 2014.
"They pulled us out of our homes and began burning the home … they brought the bulldozers ... . They demolished home after home until the entire village was destroyed," said one witness.
US air strikes
In other cases, the YPG threatened to call in US air strikes if villagers refused to leave.
The fighters have been backed in their fight against ISIL by US, which arms them and provides air cover.
Only 14 of 225 buildings in Husseiniyah were left standing after Kurdish forces took the city from ISIL in February [Amnesty International]
In another attack, Kurdish fighters are alleged to have doused a house with petrol and set it alight while its residents were still inside.
The villagers were accused by the fighters of supporting ISIL.
Amnesty International says it spoke to Kurdish leaders who said the incidents were isolated, while the YPG says civilians were moved for their own safety.
"It is critical that the US-led coalition fighting [ISIL] in Syria and all other states supporting the Autonomous Administration, or co-ordinating with it militarily, do not turn a blind eye to such abuses," Fakih said.
There seems to be comparatively few people in Syria with any desire to fight for democracy, as opposed to their ethnic group or religion or Assad, I'm not even sure about the 'free syrian army'. Up to them of course, but I can't help thinking the West is trying to back a side that doesn't exist.This morning's map:
The West is definitely backing a side, but its certainly not 'free' or interested in secular values or democracy.
Abu Bakr Al Erdogan seems upset that the Kurds are doing a pretty good job of wasting his terrorist friends:
"With support from Russia, the PYD is trying to capture land between Jarablus and Azaz, going west of the Euphrates. We will never accept this," the official said.
Capturing that area would remove the IS from its last border crossing with Turkey.
Having said that, I think the Kurds would be silly to try and take it.
Capturing that area would remove the IS from its last border crossing with Turkey.
Having said that, I think the Kurds would be silly to try and take it.
That's precisely the reason why they're bricking it. ISIS are pretty much the main buffer between Turkey and Kurdish state aspirations, ISIS falling would be a tragic blow for Erdogan.
Yeah pretty much, but it's also precisely the reason the Kurds should leave it alone, as taking it would surely bring down the wrath of the Turkish state on them even more. Also it's a very mixed area where Kurds are not a majority, taking it would bring them into conflict with the other rebels who, whatever you think of them, have some degree of legitimacy with the local Arab population there. The Kurds want to link the Afrin canton with the rest, but if they try I think it could be the start of their downfall.
Assuming the Arab population there isn't sympathetic to IS, then I don't see why there'd be tension if the Kurds were to liberate it. Its not like they're The Syrian Army. If they were sympathetic to IS then I find it hard to empathise with their neglected representation.
I think the other rebel groups see it as rightfully theirs (Ahrar al-Sham are currently facing the IS on the other side), and I'm not sure the local Arab population would disagree. I've seen more than one argument between Syrian Arabs and Kurds on Twitter over this issue, and I have to say, the Kurdish notion that they can extend all the way across didn't strike me as realistic.
Here's a close-up of the area in question from the latest map:
So it's not just a matter of defeating the IS to connect Afrin, but they also need to defeat Ahrar and their allies, who control another border crossing just north of Azaz from where Erdogan will surely give them whatever help they need.
So it's not just a matter of defeating the IS to connect Afrin, but they also need to defeat Ahrar and their allies, who control another border crossing just north of Azaz from where Erdogan will surely give them whatever help they need.
Well the Kurds essentially have a choice between taking the fight further south to Al-Shaddadeh on the Eastern front, or fight towards creating that northern corridor which as you say will probably provoke a shitstorm from the Sultan Caliph across the border.
I think the sentiments go beyond Erdogan and its actually something that permeates Turkish society as a whole. It doesn't matter who is in charge, those anti kurdish feelings will always be there.
While anti-Kurdish sentiment may exist in Turkey, I don't believe the Turkish people would be too opposed to the idea of a Kurdish state. The increasing popularity of the HDP in Turkey is testament to that.
Erdogan is probably disliked more than any Kurdish leader amongst secular Turks.
Yeah the nationalist alternatives to Erdogan the CHP and MHP are likely no more amenable to the idea of Kurdish autonomy in Syria than the AKP, probably less so.
Whats the ethnic breakdown for those who voted HDP? Because i'm sure Turkish nationalists won't be too happy with the secession of south east Turkey (considering how the Turkish modern state came about based on hardline Turkish Identity)
Not entirely sure, perhaps the resident Turks here could give a better insight.
The Turks I've spoken to certainly seem to prefer Demirtas over Erdogan though.
Which party banged up Abdullah Öcalan?
Im sorry for derailing the thread guys, I should have posted this in the Turkey thread.
I presume the CHP.
Tweet
— Twitter API (@user) date
So ISIS confirms that the US killed their deputy governor of Iraq in August.
US and Russia will end up coming to some form of agreement sharing the booty in Syria. Maybe split the country between supporters of Assad and Sunnis #justafeeling
That's always the case, The US made a deal in 1990 to hand Lebanon to the same regime it's fighting now. Foget about people dying, let's see how much money we can make.
And the Kurds? Do they just draw the short straw again?
Are they not Syrians and Sunnis?
Well that's the Kurdish problem sorted.
If it were that simple they wouldn't have seen the need to mobilise as a seperate Kurdish opposition.
Ask any Kurd where they're from and I'll be surprised if they say Syria/Iraq/Turkey/Iran.
Nationalism is paganism.
Try telling that to the Kurds who've been horribly mistreated by pretty much every other Middle Eastern nation. Its not nationalistic to ask for a homeland, its their given right at this point of time.
I suppose there are a lot of pagans in pakistan then
The Iraqis have made some considerable gains in the last two weeks, especially in Saladdin but also in Anbar.
Yep, the militias have taken back the Baji oil field. Not been a good month for ISIS and Al Nusra.
Much more actually. Al-Siniyah and Albujwari have been cleared too. Baiji looks as good as lost for ISIS now, although it will need some time to be totally cleared.
Why do Americans bomb power plants? Is ISIS the biggest electricity provider in the Aleppo area?
http://sana.sy/en/?p=58236
http://sana.sy/en/?p=58236
There are no winners.
Syria has gone back 50 years at least.
Economic Migrants and leeches - yeah don't let them in.
Syria has gone back 50 years at least.
Economic Migrants and leeches - yeah don't let them in.
Perhaps because it's controlled by ISIS in their territory and supplies ISIS with electricity?
http://syrianobserver.com/EN/News/28834/Regime_ISIS_Agree_Share_Electricity_Aleppo_Countryside/
What about the people that still live there?
Losing power > being hit by barrel bombs from Assad or Russian cluster bombs. Also, they had been without power for an extended period before the ISIS/Syrian agreement to reactivate it. Now they'll be in the same situation as the rebels who are cut off from power.