Residents living in regions controlled by the PKK terrorist group’s Syrian wing, the YPG, in Syria’s eastern Deir el-Zour have started protests due to deteriorating living conditions and the corruption of the terrorist group.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Havayic Busama and al-Jurzi in the countryside of Deir el-Zour to protest corruption in the so-called "municipal councils" of the PKK/YPG.
Deir el-Zour is east of the Euphrates in Syria.
Sources said the terrorist group has been stealing flour from bakeries – reducing the quality of bread.
Angry villagers in al-Jurzi burned tires and blocked roads.
Demonstrators protesting deteriorating conditions in the oil-rich region demanded the PKK/YPG be held accountable and the so-called municipal councils changed.
Local people living in areas held by the PKK/YPG have long suffered from its atrocities, as the terrorist organization has a notorious record of human rights abuses, ranging from kidnappings, recruitment of child soldiers, torture, ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in Syria. The PKK/YPG has forced young people from areas under its control to join its forces within the so-called "compulsory conscription in the duty of self-defense."
Meanwhile, Turkish security forces have eliminated 11 PKK/YPG terrorists after the terrorist group fired rockets into the Türkiye-Syria border area, the Defense Ministry said.
"PKK/YPG terrorists carried out a multi-barrel rocket attack from Tal Rifaat on the area of our Öncüpınar Border Post. While there was no damage/loss in our units, the terrorist targets were hit with force within the scope of self-defense," the ministry said in a written statement.
Any attack by the terrorists will not remain unanswered, it reiterated.
The statement came shortly after the governor's office of Türkiye's southern Kilis province said eight multi-barrel rocket launchers fired by PKK/YPG terrorists in northern Syria landed in the Öncüpınar border crossing area in Kilis near the border with Syria.
Türkiye, which has mounted four operations in northern Syria since 2016, has vowed a new operation against PKK/YPG terrorists that control swathes of territory near the Turkish border. Among the potential targets are Manbij and Tal Rifaat.
Since 2016, Ankara has launched a trio of successful counterterrorism operations across its border in northern Syria to prevent the formation of a terror corridor and enable the peaceful settlement of residents: Euphrates Shield in 2016, Olive Branch in 2018 and Peace Spring in 2019.
