22/01 Emergency Update

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Map from 21/01 still accurate on 22/01, as far as RIC records

Key points

  • Two days left of four-day ceasefire between Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Syrian Arab Army (SAA), amid mutual accusations of ceasefire violation
  • SDF commander: “we remain open for dialogue” but “cannot just sign any draft” issued by Syrian Transitional Government (STG)
  • SDF territory reduced from 50,000KM2 to 10,000KM2 in two weeks, with only Kurdish cities and towns left in SDF hands
  • SAA attacks in Heseke countryside threaten to cut roads between population centers, as siege on isolated Kobane deepens
  • At least 18,000 primarily Kurdish people displaced from Raqqa and Tabqa, with 170,000 people displaced since 6 January

Siege on Kobane tightens, bringing the prospect of humanitarian crisis

  • C. 150,000 civilians trapped in Kobane fear SAA assault on isolated city
  • Electricity supply is cut, water pumps cannot function, and internet access is shaky, while SAA encirclement means no fuel, food, or medical supplies can enter
  • Syria’s Ministry of Energy refutes allegations it was to blame for power cuts
  • Several babies have died due to the freezing temperatures, per local Kurdish Red Crescent employee
  • Countryside residents flee to seek safety in the city, with some sustaining injuries from SAA bombardment
  • Turkey reinforces its border with Syria opposite Kobane with tanks and heavy weapons

“We have all left our homes. We cannot return. It is raining, it is snowing. People are just by the side of the road in their cars. Some don’t even have cars, they are just wrapped in blankets on the street. Some can stay in the houses of family and friends, but everyone’s house is now full to the brim.” – Khaled, IDP displaced by SAA.

Latest from the Jazira region

  • Kurdish towns and cities gear up for anticipated SAA assault, with civilians conducting round-the-clock patrols
  • Christians in Qamishlo open churches to support the influx of IDPs
  • SDF still holds Qamishlo-Heseke road, after reports of it falling into SAA hands
  • Video surfaces of a man identified as an SAA soldier showing off the braid he cut from the head of a female Kurdish fighter
  • Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) co-chair Evin Sweid: heightened Arab-Kurdish tensions due to Damascus “inciting Arab tribes against other components in an inflammatory way against this past year”

Al-Aqtan prison deadlock

  • Crisis continues at Raqqa’s al-Aqtan prison where 2,000 suspected Islamic State (ISIS) fighters are detained
  • 450-strong contingent of SDF guards remain in a stand-off with government forces, surrounded and cut from food, water, and medical supplies
  • The SDF say the SAA have been attacking the prison, while the Syrian Ministry of Defence has denied reports of clashes and says it’s providing essential supplies
  • Civilian families – mostly IDPs from Afrin – also reportedly trapped within the prison vicinity per Syrian Observatory of Human Rights
  • The US reportedly refuses to evacuate the SDF prison guards by land
  • The SDF seek to hand the prison over to the Coalition yet CENTCOM has begun moving ISIS detainees from Syria to Iraq
  • The New York Times reports that American officials were sceptical of the Syrian authorities ability to manage the ISIS file – just after US envoy Tom Barrack asserted that Damascus was “willing and positioned to take over security responsibilities” from the SDF

Al-Hol camp

  • Humanitarian actors unable to reach al-Hol camp housing 23,000 ISIS-affiliated women and children following SAA takeover, though UN reportedly gain access
  • Former al-Hol camp manager describes chaos as locals assaulted nearby security forces, meaning, detainees were able to exploit the security gap to escape. “There are 23,000 camp residents. If 1,000 people work as one, you cannot withstand them. And if the SDF had opened fire on them, this would have created a catastrophe.”

Key quotes from press conference with senior Kurdish female commander Nisreen Abdullah

  • “What are the guarantees for integration? Sentences get written on paper, they put their signatures at the bottom, and say the problem is solved. But there are no constitutional guarantees. You give me rights today, but you can arbitrarily take them back tomorrow.”
  • “The humanitarian situation is very difficult here [in Kobane]. But we don’t just want a humanitarian corridor. Some bread and water won’t solve our problem. [We want to] find a solution, and recognition of our matters. This is a matter of justice.”
  • “Those who are attacking us… the Turkish state gave them weapons. Some have light firearms, taken from the former regime, but the advanced weaponry are things that the former Syrian army did not have, so it all came from Turkey.”
  • “The US has the power to find the solution to the problem. […] Other countries too could show a clear stance and reaction in order to stop this massacre. It is not a case of betrayal – I don’t comment in these terms. But we know these countries have power and if they want they can make their stance clear.”