Kurdish-led security arrest group attempting to smuggle civilians from Syrian regime areas

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Security forces in Raqqa on Monday arrested four people involved in the trafficking of humans from Syrian government territory to northeast Syria.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Internal Security Forces in Raqqa said they arrested a human trafficking group, which smuggled civilians from the Syrian government areas to areas under the Kurdish-led self-administration in northeast Syria.

“The Internal Security Forces took appropriate measures, set up an ambush, and arrested the smugglers and civilians who were being smuggled from regime-controlled Ma’daan town through the Euphrates river to Jazra Al-Bouhamid,” the forces said.

“In coordination with the Kurdish Red Crescent, emergency units and ambulances were called in to take the civilians to a quarantine center in Tabqa city, and ensure they are not infected with the novel coronavirus,” the statement added.

Last week, the Kurdish-led self-administration in northeast Syria criticized the Syrian regime for allowing several people to pass into administration territory without being tested for the coronavirus.

Kurdish officials also said Damascus bears responsibility for exposing hundreds of thousands of vulnerable civilians to outbreaks of the deadly disease.

Read more: Syrian Kurds say Damascus’ weak measures likely to spread coronavirus to the north

The Crisis Coordination Cell, formed by the local administration to fight the coronavirus, also criticized Damascus for not coordinating flights with them coming from Damascus to the city of Qamishlo, local media reported on Tuesday.

The local administration has also called on Damascus to stop flights to Qamishlo airport, which remains under regime control.

Medical teams in Qamishlo airport continue to check passengers coming from Damascus to areas in the northeast for signs of infection by the coronavirus.

Last Monday, there were two suspected cases of the coronavirus among arrivals from Damascus who were quarantined for two weeks.

In the cities of Tabqa, located southwest of Raqqa, and in Manbij, those coming from regime and rebel areas are being checked by administration medical teams for symptoms consistent with the coronavirus before being permitted to enter the Kurdish-controlled areas.

The Kurdish administration’s police and media offices have called on people of the region to report any travelers coming to the border areas under their control from the direction of Damascus without being subjected to anti-coronavirus health procedures.

Elham Ahmed, the President of the Executive Committee of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), told local media on Tuesday that if Damascus does not cooperate with the Autonomous Administration on confronting the coronavirus, the Syrian government will be responsible should the disease spread in the region.

“The Russian forces are in contact with both Syrian and Iranian forces. Therefore, there’s a great fear that the coronavirus could spread to their region through Russian and Syrian government forces,” Ahmed added.

So far, there have been no confirmed cases of the coronavirus in northeast Syria.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) has reported 25 infections in Syria, including two deaths.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany