ALEPPO, Syria — A number of local councils in the Euphrates Shield area in Aleppo’s northern countryside issued decisions between Sept. 15 and Sept. 18 prohibiting residents there who are affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) from traveling to regime-held areas. Patients and the elderly would only be allowed to go to these areas in extreme humanitarian cases, with travel permits granted by local councils.
The local councils justified these decisions by saying that a travel ban is a necessary step to maintain security in the Euphrates Shield area, to stop the regime’s attempts to destabilize the FSA-controlled areas through pro-regime residents promoting reconciliation.
