The Kurdish young man Ahmed Khaled Walo (24 years old), from the village of Al-Nairabiya in northern rural Aleppo, was assaulted and beaten by former members of the Ahrar al-Bab faction on December 12, 2025, while he was attempting to inquire about the fate of his father, Khaled Ahmed Walo, and his uncle, Ziyad Ahmed Walo, who had been detained the previous day on accusations related to “dealing with the Autonomous Administration.”
After assaulting him, the attackers handed Ahmed over to the General Security affiliated with the interim authority of “Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,” which then transferred him to one of the detention centers in the city of al-Bab, where he remains under arbitrary detention without any legal clarification regarding his status.
The arrest of the two brothers, Khaled and Ziyad, took place on December 11, 2025, following raids carried out by factions of the Turkish-backed Syrian National Army and members of the General Security in the city of al-Bab. Khaled was taken from his home in the village of Al-Nairabiya, while Ziyad was arrested immediately upon arriving at one of the General Security offices to inquire about his brother’s fate.
Testimonies from local residents indicate that the arrest was based on a personal complaint filed by a resident of the neighboring village of Al-Sha‘ala, claiming that the two brothers were connected to the Autonomous Administration, without any evidence supporting these allegations. The family was also not informed of their place of detention or their legal status.
This incident comes as part of a recurring pattern of arbitrary arrests and violations targeting Kurdish residents in northern rural Aleppo, including detention without legal procedures, beatings, abductions, and ill-treatment. The region suffers from widespread security instability, especially since Hayat Tahrir al-Sham took control of the area on December 8, 2024, followed by further deterioration in the human rights situation and the absence of accountability mechanisms.
Kurdish villages in the Shahba area have recorded a noticeable increase in complaints related to the conduct of armed factions and security agencies, amid ongoing arbitrary detentions and a lack of transparency regarding the fate of detainees.
