Areas under control of Turkish-backed armed groups

civilians being killed.²⁹⁶ The CoI stated that at least 53 persons were killed in targeted assassinations in Dar’a governorate between January and June 2020.²⁹⁷ According to data collected and verified by researcher Abdullah Al-Jabassini²⁹⁸, at least 930 violent incidents took place between August 2018 and February 2021 in Dar’a governorate which killed at least 790 individuals.²⁹⁹ Furthermore, reporting in June 2020, the same source stated that ‘assassinations, kidnappings, IED attacks and fatalities in seemingly hit-and-run incidents’ are reportedly a frequent occurrence in Dar’a since the return of the province to GoS control in 2018.³⁰⁰ Between January and February 2021, a military escalation took place between former opposition fighters and GoS forces in Tafas, Dar’a governorate³⁰¹, an area described as an enclave for former opposition fighters.³⁰² Clashes between the two sides involved shelling which led to casualties among the combatants.³⁰³

During the reference period, Israeli airstrikes on Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah targets.³⁰⁴ US airstrikes on Iranian-backed militias located in Gos-held areas were reported.³⁰⁵

The economic situation in Syria sparked protests in Sweida in the first half of 2020³⁰⁶, with hundreds of demonstrators calling for Assad to step down.³⁰⁷ The protests were meet with violence from security forces and arrests of activists were made.³⁰⁸

has attributed them to YPG³¹¹ or as emanating from SDF-controlled areas.³¹² YPG-associated Kurdish armed groups, Ghadab al-Zaytoun (Wrath of Olives) and Hezen Rizgariya Efrine (Afrin Liberation Forces), were reported to ‘have engaged in asymmetric warfare against factions operating under the Syrian National Army’³¹³, and carrying out assassinations and car bombs against Turkish and SNA forces.³¹⁴ Ghadab al-Zaytoun reportedly operates in Afrin and the Euphrates Shield Area.³¹⁵ Hezen Rizgariya Efrine is comprised of experienced Kurdish fighters from Afrin and was reported to carry out attacks³¹⁶ and acts of sabotage against Turkish and SNA forces.³¹⁷

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) stated that out of 194 improvised explosive device (IED) attacks verified in 2020, almost two thirds occurred in areas under the control of Turkish-backed armed groups: 83 attacks in Afrin, Jarablus, Al-Bab and Azaz (Aleppo governorate), 29 attacks in Ras al Ain (Hasaka governorate) and 14 in Tall Abyad (Raqqa governorates).³¹⁸ Between 1 January and 14 September 2020, in areas under the control of Turkish-backed armed groups OHCHR documented at least 116 civilians killed and 463 injured as a result of IED attacks by unidentified perpetrators and explosive remnants of war (ERW).³¹⁹ In February 2021, the Carter Center reported an increase in IED attacks and armed clashes in areas under SNA control in northern Aleppo governorate. The attacks were directed at SNA factions and civilians.³²⁰ No group claimed responsibility for the attacks, but pro-opposition sources attributed them to the YPG.³²¹ While USDOD stated in a report covering January-March 2020 that in the Operation Peace Spring area between Tall Abyad and Ras al Ain conditions ‘have stabilised for the time being’³²², the CoI reported periodic clashes between Kurdish forces and SNA and Turkish military forces for the period between January and July 2020.³²³ During 2020, cross-line attacks between SDF and GoS forces on one side and SNA on the other were reported on the frontlines of Operation Peace Spring area.³²⁴ Inside the Operation Peace Spring area, attacks using explosive devices which led to civilian casualties were also reported.³²⁵

311 Aydintasbas, A., A new Gaza: Turkey’s border policy in northern Syria, ECFR, 28 May 2020, url; BBC News, Syria war:

Dozens killed in truck bomb attack at Afrin market, 28 April 2020, url; Carter Center (The), Syria Weekly Conflict Summary 15-21 February 2021, 24 February 2021, url

312 International Crisis Group, The SDF Seeks a Path Toward Durable Stability in North East Syria, 25 November 2020, url

313 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic, 15 August 2019, url, p. 5

314 Counter Extremism Project, Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), n.d., url

315 Omran Center for Strategic Studies, Indicators of Security Stability in Syria and Refugee Return: An evaluation of Select Cases, December 2020, url, pp. 8, 53-54

316 Enab Baladi, Targeting of Turkish presence escalates in northern Syria, 24 September 2020, url; Al Monitor, New Kurdish group in Syria attacks Turkish-backed opposition in Afrin, 24 April 2021, url

317 Al Monitor, Syrian Kurds ponder Afrin’s recapture in shadow of Idlib crisis, 1 March 2020, url

318 UNOCHA, Humanitarian Needs Overview. Syrian Arab Republic, March 2021, url, p. 12

319 OHCHR, Syria: Violations and abuses rife in areas under Turkish-affiliated armed groups – Bachelet, 18 September 2020, url

320 Carter Center (The), Syria Weekly Conflict Summary 22-28 February 2021, 3 March 2021, url

321 Carter Center (The), Syria Weekly Conflict Summary 15-21 February 2021, 24 February 2021, url

322 USDOD, Operation Inherent Resolve. Lead Inspector General Report to the US Congress, January 1, 2020‒March 31, 2020, 13 May 2020, url, p. 49

323 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic [A/HRC/45/31], 14 August 2020, url, p. 2

324 UN Security Council, Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449 (2018), 2504 (2020) and 2533 (2020); Report of the Secretary-General [S/2020/813], 20 August 2020, url, p. 4; UN Security Council, Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449 (2018), 2504 (2020) and 2533 (2020);

Report of the Secretary-General [S/2020/1031], 14 October 2020, url, p. 3

325 UN Security Council, Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449 (2018), 2504 (2020) and 2533 (2020); Report of the Secretary-General [S/2020/813], 20 August 2020, url, p. 4; UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic [A/HRC/45/31], 14 August 2020, url, p. 2

The CoI reported that between January and April 2020, Afrin was affected by shelling and car bomb explosions which led to civilian casualties and infrastructure damage.³²⁶ In spring of 2020 an increase in attacks in Afrin was recorded which Turkey attributed to the YPG.³²⁷ On 28 April 2020, a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) attack on a market in Afrin led to 51 people being killed, of whom at least 29 were civilians.³²⁸ Between March 2018 and July 2020, the Carter Center recorded at least 215 attacks on Turkish forces and SNA factions in Afrin.³²⁹ ACAPS assessed in March 2021 that Afrin is confronted with ‘severe insecurity, a high prevalence of explosive hazards, and widespread crime’.³³⁰

Between October and November 2020, UN Security Council reported insecurity in the Euphrates Shield area between Azaz, Al Bab and Jarablus.³³¹ The Carter Center assessed Al Bab as ‘an area of frequent conflict’, documenting at least 120 incidents that took place between January and end of July 2020.³³² Fighting between SDF forces and SNA in the Al Bab area was reported in 2020.³³³ In March 2021, missile attacks on oil facilities near Al Bab and Jarablus were reported.³³⁴ COAR attributed the attack to Russian forces.³³⁵

Infighting between different factions of the SNA which have led to civilian casualties was reported in 2020³³⁶, including in Jarablus³³⁷, al-Bab³³⁸, Afrin³³⁹ and Ras al Ain.³⁴⁰ These type of incidents continued in 2021.³⁴¹ According to a January 2021 report by the Syria researcher Al-Hilu on areas under the control of Turkish-backed armed groups, the level of security and violations against civilians is influenced by the area’s demographic composition, the dominant SNA faction in control and the presence of local population amongst its ranks. In areas where the dominant factions do not include local fighters such as Ras al Ain or Afrin, ‘violations are abundant and security is minimal.’³⁴² By contrast, improved security and fewer violations against civilians were observed in Azaz, Marea, Tall

326 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic [A/HRC/45/31], 14 August 2020, url, p. 9

327Aydintasbas, A., A new Gaza: Turkey’s border policy in northern Syria, ECFR, 28 May 2020, url

328 OHCHR, Syria: Bachelet warns of ‘ticking time-bomb’ as civilian killings mount, 8 May 2020, url

329 Carter Center (The), Weekly Conflict Summary 29 June – 5 July 2020, url, p. 3

330 ACAPS, Syria. Humanitarian needs in Afrin, 3 March 2021, url

331 UN Security Council, Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449 (2018), 2504 (2020) and 2533 (2020); Report of the Secretary-General [S/2020/1195], 11 December 2020, url, p. 3

332 Carter Center (The), Weekly Conflict Summary, 27 July – 4 August 2020, url, p. 3

333 UN Human Rights Council, Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic [A/HRC/45/31], 14 August 2020, url, p. 2-3

334 Al Jazeera, Missile strikes hit oil refineries in northern Syria, killing one, 5 March 2021, url; Reuters, Missile strikes hit oil refineries in north Syria, killing one, 5 March 2021, url

335 COAR, 10 Years On: Adrift, the Syrian Aid Response Awaits a Paradigm Shift, 15 March 2021, url

336 OHCHR, Syria: Violations and abuses rife in areas under Turkish-affiliated armed groups – Bachelet, 18 September 2020, url

337 UN Security Council, Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449 (2018) and 2504 (2020); Report of the Secretary-General [S/2020/576], 24 June 2020, url, p. 18

338 Enab Baladi, ةط رشلاو ”ةيق رشلا رارحأ“ ن يب بلح فيرب بابلا ةلكشم لحل قافتا [An agreement to solve the problem of al-Bab in the countryside of Aleppo between “Ahrar al-Sharqiya” and the police], 1 April 2020, url; COAR, Syria update, 6 April 2020, url;

Al Modon, بيرهتلا رباعم لىع ةيروسلا لئاصفلا ن يب تاكابتشا [Clashes between the Syrian factions on smuggling crossings], 17 May 2020, url

339 UN Security Council, Implementation of Security Council resolutions 2139 (2014), 2165 (2014), 2191 (2014), 2258 (2015), 2332 (2016), 2393 (2017), 2401 (2018), 2449 (2018), 2504 (2020) and 2533 (2020); Report of the Secretary-General [S/2021/160], 18 February 2021, url, p. 17; STJ, Afrin: Clashes between Jaysh al-Islam and al-Jabha al-Shamiya lead to civilian deaths, 24 February 2021, url

340 Enab Baladi, Violations by “SNA”…who to blame?, 12 June 2020, url; Al Monitor, Turkish-backed rebels fight each other in Ras al-Ain, Syria, 22 April 2020, url; SOHR, Ras al-Ain | Clashes between Turkish-backed factions leave several injured, and residents of Luzi village give “Sultan Murad” five-days notice to hand over their son’s killer, 29 December 2020, url

341 STJ, Afrin: Clashes between Jaysh al-Islam and al-Jabha al-Shamiya lead to civilian deaths, 24 February 2021, url

342 Al-Hilu, K., The Turkish Intervention in Northern Syria: One Strategy, Discrepant Policies, EUI, 14 January 2021, url, p. 7

Abyad, Suluk and al-Mabrukah, where the SNA factions controlling them either include locals in their ranks or share tribal links to the fighters.³⁴³

In a September 2020 briefing, OHCHR reported that ‘killings, kidnappings, unlawful transfers of people, seizures of land and properties and forcible evictions’ were documented in areas under Turkish-backed armed groups control, including Afrin, Ras al-Ain and Tall Abyad. The victims of the attacks included ‘people perceived to be allied with opposing parties or as being critical of the actions of the Turkish-affiliated armed groups’, as well as those who could be extorted for ransom.³⁴⁴ In its report covering 2020, Human Rights Watch stated that Turkey and the SNA ‘have indiscriminately shelled civilian structures and systematically pillaged private property, arrested hundreds of individuals, and carried out at least seven summary executions in areas they occupy in north-east Syria’.³⁴⁵

See also the chapters on See also the chapters on Aleppo governorate, Raqqa governorate and Hasaka governorate.

Information on the conflict background and security dynamics prior to 2020 in areas under the control of Turkish-backed armed groups, is available in the EASO COI Report: Syria - Security situation (May 2020)