The PKK terrorist group's Syrian branch, the YPG, commits rights violations under the guise of fighting the Daesh terrorist group without anyone holding them accountable.
Al-Jazeera visited northeastern Syria under the U.S.-backed YPG control and reported in a video that the YPG is taking advantage of the support of the anti-Daesh coalition to carry out violations, as people asserted in the region.
The video revealed a large network of tunnels running along the Syrian-Turkish border reaching the Iraqi border.
A specialist team evaluated the tunnels between Al-Malikiyah and Amuda. The tunnels stretched for more than 113 km (70 miles) and had more than 1,500 exit points – 1,200 alone in Qamishli – with one only 185 m (600 feet) from the Turkish border.
The YPG terrorists have been digging more tunnels near the Turkey-Syria border, according to sources.
The tunnels are being mostly dug in Qamishli, al-Darbasiyah, al-Malikiyah and Ain al-Arab, also known as Kobani. According to field correspondents, the YPG dig tunnels – a tactic it copied from the Daesh terrorist group – to infiltrate Turkey and launch terrorist attacks.
Most entrances to the tunnel network are located only 2 kilometers (around 1.25 miles) from the border. Construction of the tunnel network has caused significant damage to the region's infrastructure, the sources noted.
The terrorist group, operating from Syria's adjacent Tal Rifaat and Manbij regions, often carries out attacks in Jarablus, Azaz, Afrin and al-Bab.
The terrorists dig temporary living space with electricity and water available in order to resist the Turkish military operations.
During Operation Peace Spring, Turkish military forces had found various tunnels in Ras al-Ain and the entrances were destroyed by airstrikes and artillery attacks.
Turkey has aimed to prevent the YPG from establishing a de facto autonomous region in northern Syria, which would border Turkey and connect the so-called northwestern Afrin canton to the Ain al-Arab and Jazeera cantons in the northeast.
Ankara describes this as a “terror corridor” posing a grave security threat to its national security, underlining its possible impact on the PKK’s activity around Turkish borders.
Local people living in areas held by the YPG have long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist group has a notorious record of human rights abuses in Syria, ranging from kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement.
The U.S. has primarily partnered with the YPG in northern Syria in the fight against the Daesh terrorist group. Turkey strongly opposes the YPG's presence in northern Syria, which has been a major sticking point in strained Ankara-Washington relations. The U.S. has provided military training and thousands of truckloads of weaponry to the YPG, despite its NATO ally's security concerns.
In its more than 40-year terror campaign against Turkey, the PKK – listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union – has been responsible for the deaths of 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
As the video reported, some YPG members openly declare that they met PKK leaders in Syria's north and east.
The YPG controls about 25% of Syrian territory rich in petrol, yet the YPG's oil extraction efforts have been nothing but catastrophic to the environment and agriculture.
Satellite photos reveal the extent to which Syrian resources are being wasted through the crude oil extraction. Remote sensing also shows a significant increase in the proportion of polluting gases in the air, which is what may have led to the increase in cancer among the population.
Also, while journalists are allowed to enter the area to visit the camps housing detained Daesh members and their families, bringing up the topic of life and conditions at the camp is taboo, the video said.
The YPG operates several camps hosting Daesh prisoners and their relatives in the region. The biggest one, the al-Hol camp, is home to nearly 60,000 people – most of them women and children – who were displaced by the U.S.-led coalition offensive against Daesh. Nearly half of those living in the sprawling camp are Iraqis facing dire living and security conditions. About 10,000 foreigners are housed in a secure annex in the camp, and many remain diehard Daesh supporters.
The families have been living in the al-Hol camp in northeastern Syria since early 2019 following the military defeat of the extremist group in which it lost the last territory it held.
Several human rights organizations along with the U.N. have repeatedly warned that conditions in the al-Hol camp are worsening each day and have demanded access to the centers where the families of former Daesh members are being held.
