YPG’s prison detains Arabs in ain al-Arab, many died under torture

(Zaman Al Wasl)- People’s Protection Units (YPG), Military arm of Democratic Union Party (PYD) capture hundreds of Arabs in the city of Ain al-Arab in the Eastern countryside of Aleppo under fake accusation for most of them, tribal sources mentioned. 

A tribe's Sheikh talked to Zaman al-Wasl on condition of anonymity said: “any prisoner charged for more than 2 months is sent to the prison of YPG which was a prison for the regime’s military security, then prisoner becomes at risk of dying either under torture of due to bad conditions in prison”. The Sheikh added that almost 6% of prisoner die under torture and even some of freed prisoners died at home due to living bad conditions they live in inside prisons, and malnutrition, besides disease they caught.

A military source of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) revealed that Ain al-Arab has two prisons, one is for Asayish militias, the security arm of Democratic Union party, and the other is military prison for the YPG, which has very bad reputation as prisoners suffer of extreme torturing, even more brutal than regime’s intelligence. 

The source mentioned that treatment in the prison controlled by Asayish is better, as most prisoners are criminals or opposition members of the PYD. 

The source confirmed that most of the 300-350 prisoners in YPG’s prison are Arabs accused of cooperation or connected to the Islamic State, although most of them have no relation to it. 

September 25, a deal was done between the Islamic State and the PYD to exchange prisoners, by which the State released 9 of the Kurdish party, and PYD release many of the Islamic State’s prisoners, were detained in special prisons controlled by PYD. 

The Islamic State has attacked Ain al-Arab June 25, 2015, the operation done by members of the its members who were disguised in the uniform PYD’s militias, and controlled many areas, then clashed took place between the both sides, resulted in hundreds of deaths, most of them civilians. 

The Democratic Union party backed by the US-led alliance air strikes had recaptured Ain al-Arab again from the Islamic State end of January 2015, the city was controlled by the state in the beginning of October 2014, by a huge attack resulted in controlling about 300 villages of the city after severe clashed with the Democratic Union Party (PYD).