On January 12, hundreds of civilians took at the streets in the city of Manbij in the province of Aleppo to protests against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) after it had arrested, tortured and killed two civilians from the city, according to local sources.
The sources said that the SDF’s security forces (Asayish) arrested “Abd al-Hanan Mohamad al-Moahamd” and “Abod Hussain al-Mjanan” who are members of the local Bu Bana tribe and refused to release them. Later, the Asayish ditched the decapitated the bodies of the two men around Manbij, according to the sources.
Regarding the accident, the SDF’s Manbij Military Council (MMC) released an official statement in which it claimed that the two victims had been never arrested by the SDF’s security forces. However, the victims’ families denied these claims and confirmed that their sons were publicly arrested by the Asayish.
Due to the protests, Kurdish units of the SDF withdrew from the center of Manbij and many checkpoints around it likely to avoid any violent encounter with the protestors. However, local activists reported that clashes between Bu Bana tribe and the SDF broke out on January 11 inside the city.
Many local activists reported that Arabs from many regions around Manbij city are now pouring into the city to join the anti-SDF protests. However, many activists said that the locals fear that the SDF could use force against the protestor and get away with it thanks to its strong ties with the US.