MESOP NEWS INVESTIGATION : Syrian opposition accuses Kurdish-led forces of violations in Raqqa, SDF promises investigation

July 16, 2017    Syria –  ARA News – A video published by pro-Syrian opposition activists through social media shows an unknown group of fighters executing a prisoner during battle, claiming they belong to the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG). The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has set up a committee to investigate the claim.

The video alleges that the incident took place in Raqqa although the killer in the video wears winter clothes, while the Raqqa operation is taking place now in the summer.“The footage of the scene confirms that the incident took place in the winter as shown by the clothes worn by the fighters, which means it happened a long time ago,” said SDF officer Sharvan Darwish.

“Although there is no evidence that they belong to the ranks of our forces, except their verbal claims, we in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) assert that what happened is a crime and does not reflect our ethics and principles and we have the strength and discipline to address this and deter it and to carry out the most severe punishment for the perpetrators and inform the public opinion about all the aspects of the investigation,” the Kurdish officer said in a statement.Therefore the SDF official promised that an investigation committee was set up to find the truth and to find out if these criminals belong to the SDF or not.

“We will not hesitate to reveal the circumstances of this crime that harms us and undermine our sacrifices in the face of terrorism,” Darwish said.This is not the first time video footage is spread that damages the image of the SDF. In July, the pro-Turkey rebels in Syria spread a video showing two fighters torturing alleged ISIS fighters. The Kurdish-led self-administration in the Cezire canton promised to punish the two military conscripts who were involved in the incident.  www.mesop.de