US-sponsored and Kurdish-led militants affiliated with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have reportedly abducted nearly a dozen civilians in Syria’s northeastern province of Hasakah as public discontent grows over the presence and arbitrary practices of the militants and American military forces.
Speaking on anonymity, local sources told Syria’s official news agency SANA that SDF militants stormed people’s houses in the villages of Okaz, Akrash, and Safaneh, which lie in the eastern countryside of the province, on Saturday and took ten people away.
The sources added that the US-backed militants took away the captives to an unknown location.
Moreover, informed sources from the town of Tal Hamis, who asked not to be named, said US occupation forces have kidnapped three young members of a family and taken them away to an unknown location.
The sources said locals poured into the streets following the abduction, blocked main roads into and out of the town, and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the young men.
The developments took place on the same day that a motorcycle bomb attack struck a checkpoint manned by US-sponsored SDF militants in Hasakah city.
SANA, citing local sources, said a rigged motorcycle exploded as soon as it arrived at the checkpoint.
The source added that the explosion left no casualties at the site.
Security conditions are reportedly deteriorating in the areas controlled by the SDF in Syria’s northern and northeastern provinces of Raqqah, Hasakah, and Dayr al-Zawr amid ongoing raids and arrests of civilians by the US-sponsored militants.
Locals argue that the SDF’s constant raids and arrest campaigns have generated a state of frustration and instability, severely affecting their businesses and livelihoods.
Residents accuse the US-backed militants of stealing crude oil and failing to spend money on service sectors.
Local councils affiliated with the SDF have also been accused of financial corruption. They are said to be embezzling funds provided by donors, neglecting services, and not meeting the people’s basic needs.