Damascus continues to put a siege on Kurds in northern Aleppo
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – As a result of a siege from the Syrian government, the internet and cellular networks in the Kurdish-controlled Shahba region in northern Aleppo went down on Friday, due to a power outage caused by generator failures.
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The local Hawar News Agency (ANHA) reported that the Local Administration and Environment Body of Afrin and al-Shahba cantons had warned that all generators would stop working.
Moreover, the local Economic and Agriculture Authority warned of a potential humanitarian catastrophe due to the siege imposed by the Damascus government.
The areas of Tal Rifaat and al-Shahba in northern Aleppo, are inhabited by thousands of civilians fleeing the Turkish occupation of Afrin in March 2018. Kurdish forces are present in the area and run camps for the displaced people from Afrin.
The Syrian government has continued its blockade on the Kurdish-held neighborhoods of Al-Ashrafiyyah and Sheikh Maqsoud in Aleppo, and the Shahba area in northern Aleppo.
“The SAA (Syrian Arab Army) systematically imposes temporary embargoes, that causes acute shortages of basic goods such as flour, baby food, and gasoline, in order to pressure the AANES (Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria),” said Albert Torres, a Syria-based Rojava Information Centre (RIC) researcher.
He added that in the past, the embargoes on the Shahba region, as well as the two majority-Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafiyyeh in the city of Aleppo, have raised tensions between the Self Administration and the Syrian Government.
"The siege of Shahba should not be seen as a dynamic between the Syrian Government and the Autonomous Administration alone - the latest embargo began as the normalization talks between Turkey and Syria started. Perhaps the siege aims to force AANES to accept some conditions from the Syrian Government, to place them in a better negotiating position at the Russia-Iran-Turkey-Syria talks.”
As part of Moscow's efforts to facilitate a reconciliation between Turkey and Syria, Russia's defense minister held talks with his Iranian, Syrian, and Turkish counterparts in Moscow on April 25.
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Despite these efforts, talks have yet to produce significant results as major disagreements persist between Turkey and Syria. One of which is Syria’s insistence on the complete withdrawal of Turkish troops from its territory.