Turkish-backed Syrian groups prevent return of displaced
The Turkish-backed opposition refrained from receiving displaced persons from the areas controlled by the Syrian government and opened fire on those who protested.
Three buses carrying internally displaced persons (IDPs) from the town of Um Batna in the countryside of Quneitra arrived May 22 at the Ghazawiya crossing between Afrin and the Idlib countryside, before heading to the Deir Hassan area in northern Idlib, which is under the control of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS).
This happened two days after the Second Legion affiliated with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) prevented the convoy from entering the Turkish-backed opposition-controlled areas in eastern Aleppo, upon its arrival at the Abu al-Zendin crossing west of the city of al-Bab on May 20, claiming that there was no coordination between Turkey and Russia to sponsor this displacement. The convoy was accompanied by the Syrian government-affiliated Red Crescent and the Russian forces, after a trip that took about 12 hours from Quneitra.
On May 21, the FSA-affiliated Sultan Murad Division assaulted protesters at the Abu al-Zendin crossing who were demanding that the IDPs enter the eastern countryside of Aleppo.
Meanwhile, activists criticized the opposition forces’ inability to bring the IDPs into their areas of control without Turkish approval, noting that preventing them from crossing and leaving women and children out in the open under the pretext they may pose a threat are useless security measures by the opposition.
