Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) called on the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian offshoot, the YPG, to release two journalists detained in Qamishli province.
The Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR) urged the YPG terrorists to release ARKTV reporter Sabri Mohammad Fakhri and Yekiti Media Website journalist Bawer Malla Ahmad. Both journalists also work for media outlets linked to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Iraq.
"We fear they may be subjected to torture and go on to become forcibly disappeared, as is the case for 85% of detainees," the SNHR said in a statement Sunday.
#SDF personnel arrested two reporters, Sabdri Fakhri & Bawer Malla Mohammad, in raids on their homes in al Qamshli city in #Hasaka suburbs on February 5.#SNHR fears they may be subjected to torture & go on to become forcibly disappeared.#Syria
Read more: https://t.co/G14vQ42rQi pic.twitter.com/E4ixjNOoxU
— Syrian Network (@snhr) February 6, 2022
The NGO added that they requested financial and psychological restitution for the victims and their families, as well as an end to the YPG’s arbitrary arrests and called on the terrorist group to reveal the fate of individuals who were forcibly disappeared.
“We note that these arrests are carried out with the objective of spreading fear and terror in the community and blackmailing the detainees’ families,” the SNHR added.
Meanwhile, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) also called on the YPG to release the journalists.
“... two journalists were abducted from their homes by masked gunmen in Qamishli. Bawer Malla Mohammad (Yeteki Media) and Sabri Fakhri (ARK News) are now held at an unknown location. @RSF_inter calls for their immediate release!” the RSF said in a statement on Twitter.
The YPG/PKK terrorists raided the houses of Sabri Fahri and Baver Molla Ahmet in the city of Qamishli in northeastern Syria overnight and took them to an unknown location. The whereabouts of the journalists are still unknown.
The order to hold the two journalists was issued by Mahmut Ris, a commander in the PKK terrorist group in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq.
On Saturday, the YPG/PKK terrorist group banned the Kurdish Rudaw TV in areas under its control in northeastern Syria.
According to field correspondents, the people living in Qamishli across from Turkey's southern Mardin province fear for their lives, as the wide tunnels pose a threat to the foundation of buildings housing residents.
The terrorists have put up tents to cover the tunnels to prevent drones from capturing them.
Residents also struggle to safely walk on streets riddled with tunnels and criticize the Assad regime, which controls Qamishli for failing to take action against the YPG.
