A video from a checkpoint at the village of Sorhane in northwestern Syria has appeared online allegedly showing how armed Kurdish YPG members are preventing civilians from returning to the area of Afrin.
#Aleppo
Footage: #YPG fired at civilians at a checkpoint near Sorhane village preventing them from returning to their homes in #Afrin pic.twitter.com/kRvEEEPacl— SMM Syria (@smmsyria) 22 May 2018
The area of Afrin, including the city of Afrin, is now in the hands of the Turkish Armed Forces and its proxies from the Free Syrian Army. During the Turkish military oepration in the area a high number of civilians left Afrin fleeing the violence. However, now some of them wants to return.
According to pro-opposition and pro-Turkish sources, the YPG is opposing to their return because this will mean a major PR defeat to the group and its political wing the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
On May 20, local in the town of Manbij in northern Syria held a general strike in order to protest a forcible recruitment into the ranks of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). According to reports, a major part of the Manbij locals participated in the strike closing their shops. This caused tensions between the locals and SDF security forces.
The SDF is a US-backed group operating in northern and eastern Syria. It consists of mostly Kurdish YPG/YPJ militias and controls a number of notable towns and cities, including Manbij, Raqqah, Tabqah and Hasakah.
