About 1.1 million people have been displaced since Syrian rebels toppled that shocking former president Bashar al-AssadThe UN said there was a humanitarian drive between the different fighting factions.
“As of December 12, 1.1 million people have been displaced across the country since the start of the siege on November 27. The majority are women and children,” the Office of the Humanitarian Organization (OCHA) said in a statement.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced from these and have taken refuge in the administered parts of the north of Syria between factional fighting and fear of escalating reprisal attacks.
Tensions appear to be particularly concentrated in the town of Manbij, north-east of Aleppo, and the mixed Arab and Kurdish town of Deir Ezzour in eastern Syria.
After the collapse of Assadist forces last week, Kurdish and Arab forces fighting under the banner of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have advanced in some areas with the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army rebel group, in an. attempts to secure swaths of territory in northern and eastern Syria.
In a gesture of unity, the Kurdish administration in north-eastern Syria has declared that it will fly the flag of independence from long-held opposition forces across the region to “reinforce Syria’s unity and its national identity”.
The head of the SDF, Gen Mazloum Abdi, said the US had helped mediate a deal in the Manbij sector, but his forces “continue to resist and stop the increasing attacks from west of the Euphrates” as the Turkish-backed rebel group tried to capture them. control of the town. Despite the ceasefire, reports of fighting continued in the center of Manbij.
“The goal is to cease fire throughout Syria and enter a political process in the future,” Abdi said.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Islamist party that controls much of Syria, has not clashed with Kurdish forces. Rebel forces in eastern Syria, however, have driven fighters out of Deir Ezzour amid unrest that controls the town and insurgent fears of the presence of Islamic State (IS) fighters in the area.
Turkey, which faces the SDF and has trained fighters from the Kurdish terrorist group, has also launched attacks on Kurdish forces. Ankara-backed forces struck Kurdish supplies that it said had been looted from Syrian arsenals.
The SDF said its forces were “offensive” to push back Turkish forces at the motherland of Thesther near Manbij. “The beast meets with the fear of the mother,” he said, blaming the military bombardment and the Turkish farms.
An estimated 900 US troops remain in eastern Syria to fight Kurdish forces and other rebel factions to prevent a resurgence from IS.
Abdi told Sky news that his forces were forced to fight against IS in eastern Syria due to instigating attacks by Turkish forces, fueling fears of an escape or prison break being targeted by jihadist militants. camp in the eastern region.
“Now it is stronger in the Syrian desert. Before they were in remote areas and hiding, now they have greater freedom of movement because they do not face any problems with other groups and have not met with them,” he told Sky News.
Its forces have witnessed an increase in IS activities in areas under SDF control, he added, including killing several SDF members near Al Hasakah.
Speaking before his departure for Turkey at a station in Jordan, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Thursday acknowledged “real and clear interests” from Turkey over the PKK, the Kurdish fighters that Ankara has allied with the SDF.
“At the same time, we want to avoid again provoking any kind of additional conflicts inside Syria,” Blinken told reporters in Aqaba, Jordan.
“And part of that is to make sure it doesn’t rear its ugly head again. And critical to making sure that doesn’t happen is the so-called SDF, the Syrian Democratic Forces, to support us,” he said.
Blinken later told Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Syrian citizens should be protected, in a meeting at Ankara airport, according to the state of the country.
Amid the chaos and fighting, rights groups warned civilians are suffering the most.
“The situation is exacerbated by an acute and protracted crisis, with boat camps and severely damaged infrastructure and a lack of water, power, health, food and safe weather shelter,” Human Rights Watch said.
The non-profit organization also warned of widespread atrocities by Turkish-backed rebel groups in the province, including illegal detentions, sexual violence and torture, land theft and extortion.
Adam Coogle, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: “Among the extraordinary events in Syria, fierce fighting and the fear of reprisals and violence by armed groups are uprooting thousands of civilians to an area unprepared for such an influx.”
The Syrian government, meanwhile, vowed on Thursday to establish “rule of law.” “All those who have committed crimes against the Syrian people will be judged according to the law,” the new government’s spokesman, Obaida Arnaout, told AFP.
He also said that the country’s constitution and parliament would be suspended for three months of transition.
“A judicial and human rights tribunal will be established to examine the constitution and introduce amendments,” Arnaout said.