‘Islamic State’ to impose blockade on Kurdish areas under PYD control

The Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant posted online a decision to impose a blockade on areas under control of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) in northern Syria.

The ISIL’s statement ordered people of ‘Aleppo State’ to prevent entry of food staples, fuel and medicine; any person violate the decision will be culpable, it added.

The main provinces to be harmed by the blockade will be Efrin and Ain Al-Arab (Kurdish: Kobanê) and tens of Kurdish villages northern Aleppo.

The decision will valid by 7th of December 2013.

Last weeks, the armed wing of the PYD took over security in the areas, and has kept armed rebels out as part of a tacit deal to ensure that regime troops will also stay out.

On November12 2013, the PYD and other Kurdish parties announced the establishment of an autonomous transitional administration.

Syria’s Kurds make up around 15 percent of the population and are mostly concentrated in the northeast and northwest of the country, along the Turkish and Iraqi borders.

They have walked a careful line during Syria’s uprising, declining to actively join either the government or the rebels, and instead focusing on building autonomy in Kurdish-majority regions.

The Syrian government withdrew troops from those regions in mid-2012 and focused its energies elsewhere.

The move to consolidate their autonomy on the ground, comes as the armed wing of the PYD battles jihadist fighters that have sought to control Kurdish areas.

The Kurdish region to Syria’s east includes oilfields, and runs along the border with Iraq, providing Jihadist a key route for fighters and supplies.

 The PKK or Kurdistan Workers Party is a Kurdish organization that has fought for rights in Turkey and is considered a terrorist group by the United States and other countries. (with AFP)