Within a continuing context of human rights violations targeting Kurdish citizens in the northern Aleppo countryside, General Security personnel arrested Kurdish citizen Radwan Arslan Bakr while he was traveling on the Afrin-Aleppo road, without clarifying the legal grounds for the arrest. This incident reflects a recurring pattern of arbitrary detention and security-related restrictions in the region.
Local sources reported that General Security personnel in the city of Azaz arrested the Kurdish citizen Radwan Arslan Bakr (55 years old) on Thursday, April 16, 2026. He is a native of Qutan village in the Bulbul district of the Afrin countryside and resides in the city of Afrin, where he works in the used auto parts trade.
He was arrested while traveling from the city of Afrin to the city of Aleppo, before being taken to a security headquarters in the Azaz area, where he remains detained at the time of this report, without being charged with any clear offenses or having the legal reasons for his detention provided.
In a parallel and alarming development, local sources stated that the General Security apparatus of the interim authority in Afrin city summoned dozens of young Kurdish men—who were formerly part of the “Asayish / Kurdish local police forces”—on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, following their return in a convoy of displaced persons arriving from the city of Al-Hasakah.
According to reports, these summons occurred only hours after the arrival of the convoy and were accompanied by measures that included photographing personal identification documents and scrutinizing the personal details of the returnees, particularly in the Jindires district, which sparked a state of anxiety among the residents.
In this context, the young man Rashid Ahmed Mohammed (22 years old), a native of Qara Gul village in the Bulbul district, was arrested hours after his arrival in Afrin. He was subsequently released, then re-summoned on the morning of Wednesday, April 15, 2026, to complete the investigation.
Testimonies indicate that security measures were not limited to summons, but extended to searching mobile phones and confiscating digital content, in addition to seizing the personal identification documents of some returnees, in clear violation of privacy and without legal basis. Witnesses also reported that some young men were subjected to beating during interrogation.
Relatedly, four young Kurdish men from among those returning in the third convoy were arrested before being released hours later, after being subjected to searches and the confiscation of some of their personal documents.
Sources also documented General Security personnel stopping vehicles transporting returning displaced persons, searching their phones and personal belongings, as well as recording instances of provocation against both the returnees and the citizens who received them.
Raid and Arrest Campaigns in Aleppo Countryside Villages:
In a separate incident, the Kurdish village of Al-Nayrabiyah in the northern Aleppo countryside witnessed a series of raids carried out by security forces on Tuesday, April 14, 2026, during which civilians’ homes were stormed and searched arbitrarily under the pretext of suspected dealings with previous entities.
The campaign resulted in the arrest of Shaheen Hakim Shaheen and Imad Abdul Jawad Lu.
These incidents come in light of a noticeable escalation in violations against Kurdish citizens in the Afrin and northern Aleppo countryside regions, especially with the return of batches of displaced persons, despite official statements affirming the guarantee of a “safe and dignified return.”
These events reflect a recurring pattern of arbitrary detention, unlawful search, and violation of privacy, which raises serious concerns regarding the safety of civilians and poses questions about the extent of adherence to legal standards and human rights in the region.
