ISIS Captures 900 Kurdish Civilians in Northern Syria

Militants affiliated with the Islamic State group have captured 900 Kurdish civilians in the past three weeks following the start of operations by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to retake Manbij in Aleppo province. The Associated Press, citing the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, reported that these 900 Kurdish civilians are being held captive near the city of Al-Bab, which is under ISIS control. The news agency also quoted Shervan Derwish, a spokesperson for the SDF, confirming the capture of these Kurdish citizens, stating that this action was in retaliation for SDF attacks on Manbij. The SDF is a coalition of Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian, Armenian, and Turkmen groups established during the Syrian civil war and is supported by the United States. In recent weeks, the SDF has conducted operations around Manbij aimed at cutting off the logistical connection between Raqqa, the unofficial capital of ISIS in Syria, and the Turkish borders. On Thursday, it was announced that the SDF, with air support from the US-led coalition, managed to enter the city of Manbij, and the latest reports on Friday indicated that street battles in Manbij were ongoing. In this context, Agence France-Presse reported on Thursday that street fighting was taking place in the city, with ISIS militants attempting to prevent the advance of the SDF by detonating car bombs and laying mines. The capture of 900 Kurdish civilians by ISIS occurred shortly after the start of operations supported by the US near Manbij in the past month, and the Associated Press noted that, according to the SDF spokesperson, 'whenever ISIS suffers a defeat, it carries out retaliatory actions against civilians.' The Associated Press also quoted Shervan Derwish and the Turkish Human Rights Observatory stating that some of the captives have been forced to dig trenches in areas controlled by ISIS, while others are imprisoned in ISIS detention facilities. The news agency added that the Islamic State group has a history of kidnapping and mass captivity in areas under its control in Iraq and Syria, primarily targeting Christian or Kurdish civilians. In 2014, the group captured 200 Kurdish students near Manbij, many of whom were released shortly afterward. Later, in February 2015, over 200 Christian civilians in northeastern Syria were captured by ISIS and were released nearly a year later in exchange for millions of dollars. Since the attacks to retake Manbij, the SDF has captured dozens of villages and agricultural areas near the city, and according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the battle for Manbij has so far resulted in 81 deaths among SDF forces and 463 deaths among ISIS extremists.