Syria: Kurdish militias plan a demographic change in Manbij

Syria: Kurdish militias plan a demographic change in Manbij

Opposition activists accused the Kurdish militias of burning on Sunday important documents related to locals in the city of Manbij in an attempt to change the demography of the city in Aleppo eastern countryside.

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed alliance consisting primarily of Kurdish fighters, said on Friday they were in control of most of the city which was held by ISIS since 2014.

“This step is only the beginning; SDF will take further steps in changing the demography of the Arabic city,” a Syrian activist in Aleppo eastern countryside told Orient Net on condition of anonymity without verifying the story of burning.

Syria Democratic Forces (SDF), an alliance of mainly Kurdish fighters backed by the US, launched an offensive against ISIS to retake the city of Manbij in May. Kurdish militias aim at controlling Manbij to complete their control over northern Syria and pave the way to their autonomy goal.

A source in the SDF said that the next step is to open a route between the new-captured city of Manbij and the Kurdish-dominated city of Efreen in the northwest of Syria.

The source also said that SDF are intending to annex Manbij to the Kurdish autonomy in the north of Syria.

SDF are supported by the PYD, the Syrian arm of the PKK terrorist group. These forces want to vacate the west bank of the Euphrates River after having seized control of a strategic city of Manbij from ISIS on Friday.

The Kurdish militias also used the US support to attack many Arab villages, commit massacres there and force the citizens to flee.

Kurdish militias or ISIS ?

Taking Manbij could cut ISIS main access route to the outside world, paving the way for an assault on their Syrian capital Raqqa. However, the Kurdish militias have bigger plans for the area as they seek their autonomy.

The autonomous federation being planned by Syrian Kurdish parties and their allies is taking shape fast: a constitution should be finalized in three months, and possibly sooner, to be followed quickly by-elections, a Kurdish official said.

The political federation for northern Syria builds on three self-ruled regions carved out by the YPG since Syria descended into conflict in 2011 in an uprising to topple President Bashar al-Assad. It has already grown, expanding last year to include the town of Tel Abyad that was captured from Islamic State by the YPG in October.

In fact, Kurdish militias use US support to launch offensives against new areas under the term of fighting ISIS, while the force the Arab citizens to flee their homes, so the Kurdish militias can force control over new areas and add it to their contents.

They are accused of making ethnic crimes against Arab citizens in northern Syria.

Syrian Kurdish groups have made no secret of their aim to link up their two autonomous regions, or cantons, in northeastern Syria with one further west – Afrin. All that’s preventing them was the 80 km stretch of territory at the Turkish border held by ISIS near Manbij and further west by rebel groups that are hostile to the YPG.

The plan had taken on even greater significance since the Syria Democratic Forces alliance secceeded in taking Manbij from ISIS hands.