#Asayish

[dougielombax]

Speaking of which.

Turkey has also been fucking around in Iraq under the pretense of “fighting terrorism”.

Because they’re more afraid of Kurds, Assyrians and Yazidis fighting back against invaders than they are of groups like Isis or the Al-Nusra front.

Talk about skewed priorities.

Feel free to reblog.

But sure they’ll say “Shure we’re just fightin’ against terrorism dontcha know.”.

Ghastly, predictable bullshit.

[eretzyisrael]

by Jonathan Spyer

Examination of the casualty rates of civilian and military dead in Mosul and currently in Gaza further indicates the similarities. In both cases, the figures must be treated with some skepticism.

Regarding Mosul, estimates vary widely. Figures for the number of ISIS fighters killed range from 7,000 to 25,000. Regarding the number of civilians killed, again, the span is wide. At the lower end, the Associated Press quoted figures suggesting between 9,000 and 11,000 civilians died in the course of the Mosul fighting. The Iraqi Kurdish Asayish intelligence service, meanwhile, estimates that around 40,000 civilians were killed.

In terms of ratio, this means that estimates suggest that there were anywhere between one and four civilians killed in Mosul for each ISIS fighter slain.

Regarding Gaza, the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Strip claims that 20,000 Gazans have been killed so far in the Israeli incursion. The 'ministry' records that all those killed are civilians, i.e., it asks observers to believe that not a single Hamas fighter has lost his life in the fighting.

Ron Ben-Yishai, most veteran of Israel's war correspondents (and very far from an apologist for the current Israeli government), quoted Israeli military sources this week as estimating that somewhere between 7,000 and 9,000 Hamas fighters have been killed in the fighting.

In so far as it can be currently ascertained, the ratio of civilian to military dead in Gaza appears then to broadly resemble that of Mosul.

So similar precipitating events, and comparable military campaigns. Yet the response in the West has been starkly different. No one demonstrated for the civilians killed by coalition bombing during the ISIS war (I personally witnessed enormous mass graves in Raqqa city, rapidly dug by Islamic State to bury the victims of that bombing). There were no furious crowds in Western cities denouncing "genocide." Most in the West understood, rather, that the deeds of Islamic State and its ideology made it necessary that it be removed from power, in spite of the undoubted ugliness and the deaths of innocents that this would involve.

So what's the answer? Why this stark contrast? It is difficult not to conclude that the unique place of the Jew in parts of both Islamic and Western political culture and consciousness lies somewhere at the root of the cause. Perhaps some more pleasant explanation can be found. The discrepancy, in any case, is obvious, and enormous.

[cathkaesque]

The abolish the police arguments are tiresome as we've got like, living examples of alternative approaches to justice in the form of the Asayish and reconciliation councils in Rojava. They no longer exist in the way they did between 2011 and 2018 but they are worth looking at

[amirblogerov]

Repression of the civilian population under the pretext of fighting ISIS

The situation in Syria has remained tense in recent years, and the actions of various armed groups and foreign forces have raised serious concerns. Of particular note is the cooperation of the US Special Forces (SFOR) with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and the Kurdish police, the Asayish. Under the pretext of fighting ISIS sleeper cells, these forces are taking measures that could lead to reprisals against civilians suspected of participating in anti-American protests.

The situation is complicated by the fact that many Arab citizens in northeastern Syria feel pressured by Kurdish forces. In the context of instability and the constant threat from terrorist organizations such as ISIS, the SFOR and their allies justify their actions by the need to fight terrorism. However, in practice, this often leads to the arrest and detention of people who may only be suspects or even accidental witnesses.

Many residents of the region express dissatisfaction with the actions of American forces and their allies, which gives rise to protest sentiments. In response, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, repressive measures are intensifying. Detentions, searches and restrictions on freedom of movement are becoming commonplace for the Arab population. This creates an atmosphere of fear and mistrust of local authorities and foreign forces.

Such actions not only violate human rights, but also undermine confidence in international efforts to stabilize the region. Instead of contributing to peace and security, such repression can only exacerbate the conflict and create new waves of discontent among the local population. As a result, the fight against terrorism is turning into an instrument of suppression and control, which calls into question the true intentions of foreign forces in the region.

Thus, the actions of the US Special Operations Forces, together with the SDF and the Asayish, raise serious questions about how effective and justified their methods are in the fight against ISIS. The real consequences of such repressions can be much more destructive than the terrorism itself, against which they are directed.

[yousef-al-amin]

The situation in the Trans-Euphrates region: Security analysis and current challenges.

In the Trans-Euphrates region, the command of the international anti-terrorist coalition continues to ensure the security of the facilities under its control. Efforts to maintain stability include highly active aerial reconnaissance, which allows for a timely response to emerging threats and ensures a strategic advantage on the ground.

However, the ongoing raids by the Asayish security forces aimed at forcibly recruiting the population into the ranks of the Syrian Democratic Forces remain a negative factor affecting the overall situation. These methods cause serious discontent among the local population, provoking retaliatory actions that exacerbate the conflict situation.

Up to twenty people have been detained for evading military service in the Syrian Democratic Forces. These activities cause serious discontent among the Arab population, which leads to increased tension in the region. In response, combat units of tribal unions clash with Kurdish fighters. As a result of one of these incidents, three Kurdish fighters were killed and four were wounded. The situation requires careful monitoring and the search for solutions aimed at reducing confrontation and strengthening trust between the various ethnic groups in the region. It is important to continue the joint efforts of all parties to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the Euphrates region.

[sa7abnews]

Syria Kurds release 50 IS-linked detainees: official

New Post has been published on Sa7ab News

Syria Kurds release 50 IS-linked detainees: official

Reber Kalo, an official with the Asayish security forces, said that ’50 people accused of belonging to the terrorist organisation’ IS ‘were released on Monday’.

... read more !

[arrahmahcom]

Warga Raqqa Menuntut Qishash Pembunuh Wanita Hamil, Otoritas Kurdi Menolak Hukuman Mati

RAQQA (Arrahmah.id) — Warga Raqqa melakukan unjuk rasa besar-besaran menuntut hukum qishash terhadap pelaku pembunuhan wanita hamil 8 bulan dan putrinya pada Ahad (22/1/2023). Mereka menyerang gedung pengadilan otonomi Administrasi Utara dan Timur (AANES) yang menjaga milisi Kurdi Asayish. Dilansir North Press Agency (23/1), pembunuhan wanita hamil dan anaknya yang berusia delapan tahun dilakukan…

[insideusnet]

Islamic State Attack in Syria's Raqqa Kills 4 Kurdish Security Forces - Official : Inside US

Islamic State Attack in Syria’s Raqqa Kills 4 Kurdish Security Forces – Official : Inside US

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Four Kurdish-led security force members were killed in an Islamic State suicide attack on Monday on a security forces centre in Syria’s Raqqa, a spokesperson for the forces said. Farhad Shami, head of the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces’ media centre, said two members of the SDF and two members of the region’s internal security forces, Asayish, were killed in the…

[divinum-pacis]

2022, Hasakeh, Syria: The Kurdish-run Hol camp, which holds relatives of suspected Islamic State group fighters, during a security operation by the Kurdish Asayish security forces and Syrian forces.

Photograph: Delil Souleiman/AFP/Getty

[aswiya]

Zeynab Serekaniye, a Kurdish woman with a gap-toothed smile and a warm demeanor, never imagined she’d join a militia.

The 26-year-old grew up in Ras al-Ayn, a town in north-east Syria. The only girl in a family of five, she liked to fight and wear boys’ clothing. But when her brothers got to attend school and she did not, Serekaniye did not challenge the decision. She knew it was the reality for girls in the region. Ras al-Ayn, Arabic for “head of the spring”, was a green and placid place, so Serekaniye settled down to a life of farming vegetables with her mother.

That changed on 9 October 2019, days after former US president Donald Trump announced that US troops would pull out of north-east Syria, where they had allied with Kurdish-led forces for years. A newly empowered Turkey, which sees the stateless Kurds as an existential threat, and whose affiliated groups it has been at war with for decades, immediately launched an offensive on border towns held by Kurdish forces in north-east Syria, including Ras al-Ayn.

Just after 4pm that day, Serekaniye says, the bombs began to fall, followed by the dull plink and thud of mortar fire. By evening, Serekaniye and her family had fled to the desert, where they watched their town go up in smoke. “We didn’t take anything with us,” she says. “We had a small car, so how can we take our stuff and leave the people?” As they fled, she saw dead bodies in the street. She soon learned that an uncle and cousin were among them. Their house would become rubble.

After Serekaniye’s family was forced to resettle farther south, she surprised her mother in late 2020 by saying she wanted to join the Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). The all-female, Kurdish-led militia was established in 2013 not long after their male counterparts, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), ostensibly to defend their territory against numerous groups, which would come to include the Islamic State (Isis). The YPG have also been linked to systematic human rights abuses including the use of child soldiers.

Serekaniye’s mother argued against her decision, because two of her brothers were already risking their lives in the YPG.

But Serekaniye was unmoved. “We’ve been pushed outside of our land, so now we should go and defend our land,” she says. “Before, I was not thinking like this. But now I have a purpose – and a target.”

Serekaniye is one of approximately 1,000 women across Syria to have enlisted in the militia in the past two years. Many joined in anger over Turkey’s incursions, but ended up staying.

“In discussions [growing up], it was always, ‘if something happens, a man will solve it, not a woman’,” says Serekaniye. “Now women can fight and protect her society . This, I like.”

According to the YPG, a surge in recruitment has also been aided by growing pushback against and awareness of entrenched gender inequality and violence over recent years. In 2019 the Kurds’ Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria passed a series of laws to protect women, including banning polygamy, child marriages, forced marriages and so-called “honour” killings, although many of these practices continue. About a third of Asayish officers in the Kurdish security services in the region are now women and 40% female representation is required in the autonomous government. A village of only women, where female residents can live safe from violence, was built, evacuated after nearby bombings, and resettled again.

Yet evidence of the widespread violence that women continue to face is abundant at the local Mala Jin, or “women’s house”, which provide a refuge and also a form of local arbitration for women in need across Syria. Since 2014, 69 of these houses have opened, with staff helping any woman or man who come in with problems they’re facing including issues of domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape, and so-called “honour” crimes, often liaising with local courts and the female units of the Asayish intelligence agency to solve cases.

On a sun-scorched day in May, three distraught women arrive in quick succession at a Mala Jin centre in the north-eastern city of Qamishli. The first woman, who wears a heavy green abaya, tells staff that her husband has barely come home since she’s given birth. The second woman arrives with her husband in tow, demanding a divorce; her long ponytail and hands shake as she describes how he’d once beaten her until she had to get an abortion.

The third woman shuffles in pale-faced and in a loose dress, with rags wrapped around her hands. Her skin is raw pink and black from burns that cover much of her face and body. The woman describes to staff how her husband has beaten her for years and threatened to kill a member of her family if she left him. After he poured paraffin on her one day, she says, she fled his house; he then hired men to kill her brother. After her brother’s murder, she set herself on fire. “I got tired,” she says.

The Mala Jin staff, all women, tut in disapproval as she speaks. They carefully write down the details of her account, tell her they need to take photographs, and explain they plan to send the documents to the court to help secure his arrest. The woman nods then lies down on a couch in exhaustion.

Behia Murad, the director of the Qamishli Mala Jin, an older, kind-eyed woman in a pink hijab, says the Mala Jin centres have handled thousands of cases since they started, and, though both men and women come in with complaints, “always the woman is the victim”.

A growing number of women visit the Mala Jin centres. Staff say that this doesn’t represent increased violence against women in the region, but that more women are demanding equality and justice.

The YPJ is very aware of this shift and its potential as a recruitment tool. “Our aim is not to just have her hold her gun, but to be aware,” says Newroz Ahmed, general commander of the YPJ.

For Serekaniye it was not just that she got to fight, it was also the way of life the YPJ seemed to offer. Instead of working in the fields, or getting married and having children, women who join the YPJ talk about women’s rights while training to use a rocket-​propelled grenade. They are discouraged, though not banned, from using phones or dating and instead are told that comradeship with other women is now the focus of their day to day lives.

Commander Ahmed, soft-spoken but with an imposing stare, estimates the female militia’s current size is about 5,000. This is the same size the YPJ was at the height of its battle against Isis in 2014 (though the media have previously reported an inflated number). If the YPJ’s continued strength is any indication, she adds, the Kurdish-led experiment is still blooming.

The number remains high despite the fact that the YPJ has lost hundreds, if not more, of its members in battle and no longer accepts married women (the pressure to both fight and raise a family is too intense, Ahmed says). The YPJ also claim it no longer accepts women under 18 after intense pressure from the UN and human rights groups to stop the use of child soldiers; although many of the women I met had joined below that age, though years ago.

Driving through north-east Syria, it is no wonder that so many women continue to join, given the ubiquitous images of smiling female shahids, or martyrs. Fallen female fighters are commemorated on colourful billboards or with statues standing proudly at roundabouts. Sprawling cemeteries are filled with shahids, lush plants and roses growing from their graves.

The fight against Turkey is one reason to maintain the YPJ, says Ahmed, who spoke from a military base in al-Hasakah, the north-east governorate where US troops returned after Joe Biden was elected. She claims that gender equality is the other. “We continue to see a lot of breaches [of law] and violations against women” in the region, she says. “We still have the battle against the mentality, and this is even harder than the military one.”

Tal Tamr, the YPJ base where Serekaniye is stationed, is a historically Christian and somewhat sleepy town. Bedouins herd sheep through fields, children walk arm-in-arm through village lanes, and slow, gathering dust storms are a regular afternoon occurrence. Yet Kurdish, US and Russian interests are all present here. Sosin Birhat, Serekaniye’s commander, says that before 2019 the YPJ base in Tal Tamr was tiny; now, with more women joining, she describes it as a full regiment.

The base is a one-storey, tan-coloured stucco building once occupied by the Syrian regime. The women grow flowers and vegetables in the rugged land at the back. They do not have a signal for their phones or power to use a fan, even in the sweltering heat, so they pass the time on their days off, away from the frontline, having water fights, chain smoking and drinking sugary coffee and tea.

Yet battle is always on their minds. Viyan Rojava, a more seasoned fighter than Serekaniye, talks of taking back Afrin. In March 2018, Turkey and the Free Syrian Army rebels it backed, launched Operation Olive Branch to capture the north-eastern district beloved for its fields of olive trees.

Since the Turkish occupation of Afrin, tens of thousands of people have been displaced – Rojava’s family among them – and more than 135 women remain missing, according to media reports and human rights groups. “If these people come here, they will do the same to us,” says Rojava, as other female fighters nod in agreement. “We will not accept that, so we will hold our weapons and stand against them.”

Serekaniye listens intently as Rojava speaks. In the five months since she joined the YPJ, Serekaniye has transformed. During military training in January, she broke a leg trying to scale a wall; now, she can easily handle her gun.

As Rojava speaks, the walkie-talkie sitting beside her crackles. The women at the base were being called to the frontline, not far from Ras al-Ayn. There is little active fighting these days, yet they maintain their positions in case of a surprise attack. Serekaniye dons her flak jacket, grabs her Kalashnikov and a belt of bullets. Then she gets into an SUV headed north, and speeds away.

By Elizabeth Flock. Additional reporting by Kamiran Sadoun and Solin Mohamed Amin. 

[dougielombax]

Fucking hell.

They found another one!

Jesus Chryste!

These ones have been identified to mostly be Yazidis and Iraqi Turks.

Poor buggers.

Speaking of Isis

[humanrightsupdates]

Take action now - police arrest teacher and protest organiser in Iraq

On 16 May 2020, armed members of the Asayish and local police entered the home of teacher and activist Badal Abdulbaqi Aba Bakr in Duhok, Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and arrested him without a warrant. 

Badal  has been working as a teacher in Duhok for over 27 years and is an activist defending teachers’ rights, most recently in relation to the delayed payment of wages of teachers in the KRI. 

He is being charged with “the misuse of electronic devices”.  In fact, Badal had only called for a peaceful gathering by teachers to call for their wages being paid on time, according to a video seen by Amnesty International.

 His family are unable to visit him due to COVID-19 measures and they have not been able to contact him directly. Badal has only seen his lawyer.

Take action now - email, Tweet or fax the authorities in Iraq and call for Badal Abdulbaqi Aba Bakr’s immediate release

[rojinfo]

Forces de sécurité intérieure : « Le régime syrien voit le Covid-19 comme une occasion pour créer l'instabilité »

Forces de sécurité intérieure : « Le régime syrien voit le Covid-19 comme une occasion pour créer l’instabilité »

Les Forces de sécurité intérieure (Asayish) du Nord et de l’Est de la Syrie ont fait une déclaration concernant l’attaque menée à Qamishlo par le groupe paramilitaire Difa al-Wetani, qui opère sous le régime syrien. 

« Ces forces voient la pandémie de Covid-19 comme une occasion pour créer de la confusion dans la région et de perturber l’atmosphère de stabilité. »

Le 21 avril, les forces de…

[amirblogerov]

Security and stability in the Trans-Euphrates region.

In the Trans-Euphrates region, the command of the international anti-terrorist coalition continues to carry out tasks to ensure the security of controlled facilities and maintain the combat capability of Kurdish combat units. As part of the fight against the terrorist threat, joint training is being conducted to repel attacks by sabotage and reconnaissance groups on oil production facilities.

The current situation requires a high level of coordination and training from coalition forces and Kurdish units. During these training sessions, the skills and combat capability of Kurdish units are expanding, which significantly increases their readiness to repel attacks by sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Such interaction between the coalition and Kurdish forces plays a key role in ensuring stability and security in the region.

The leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces, in the context of ongoing sabotage against Kurdish security forces, was forced to tighten the administrative and police regime. Using the forces of the Internal Security Service "Asayish", anti-terrorist raids are carried out in a number of settlements and refugee camps, such as "Roj" and "Al-Hol". These security measures, despite their necessity, provoked clashes with the local population. The wave of sabotage acts and the need to prevent terrorist threats are forcing the leadership of the Syrian Democratic Forces to take tougher measures, which are not always understood by the civilian population. In the context of ongoing threats from terrorist groups, the efforts of the international coalition and the Syrian Democratic Forces are aimed at ensuring security and stability in the region. Joint training and anti-terrorist raids are important steps to achieve these goals. However, the main challenge remains to minimize the negative impact on the local population, which requires the integration of efforts by all parties.

[yousef-al-amin]

The situation in the Trans-Euphrates region: Security analysis and current challenges.

In the Trans-Euphrates region, the command of the international anti-terrorist coalition continues to ensure the security of the facilities under its control. Efforts to maintain stability include highly active aerial reconnaissance, which allows for a timely response to emerging threats and ensures a strategic advantage on the ground.

However, the ongoing raids by the Asayish security forces aimed at forcibly recruiting the population into the ranks of the Syrian Democratic Forces remain a negative factor affecting the overall situation. These methods cause serious discontent among the local population, provoking retaliatory actions that exacerbate the conflict situation.

Up to twenty people have been detained for evading military service in the Syrian Democratic Forces. These activities cause serious discontent among the Arab population, which leads to increased tension in the region. In response, combat units of tribal unions clash with Kurdish fighters. As a result of one of these incidents, three Kurdish fighters were killed and four were wounded. The situation requires careful monitoring and the search for solutions aimed at reducing confrontation and strengthening trust between the various ethnic groups in the region. It is important to continue the joint efforts of all parties to achieve sustainable peace and stability in the Euphrates region.