Amnesty International says Kurdish forces have demolished villages and forced people from their homes in fight against Isis

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

US-backed Kurdish forces have forcefully displaced thousands of Syrian civilians, mostly Arabs, and demolished villages in northern Syria, often in retaliation for the residents’ perceived sympathies for Islamic State and other militants, Amnesty International has said.

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Amnesty said its findings were based on visits to 14 towns and villages in the provinces of Hassakeh and Raqqa this summer, areas under Kurdish control. It said the abuses amount to war crimes.

The rights group said at least two villages were entirely demolished. In at least eight other villages, the residents were forced to leave and were sometimes threatened with being shot or targeted in US airstrikes. It said the victims were mainly Arab, but also included Turkmens and other Kurds.

Amnesty quoted Kurdish fighters as saying the displacement was carried out for security purposes.

A Kurdish official in northern Syria said that forces may have committed minor violations against people suspected of ties to Isis, but that such actions were not based on ethnicity.

The Kurds, Syria’s largest ethnic minority, have carved out a semi-autonomous enclave in the north since the start of the civil war in 2011.

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Kurdish fighters have been among the most successful ground forces battling Isis. Backed by US-led airstrikes, they defeated the extremist group in the Syrian border town of Kobani this year and have since expanded their territory along the border with Turkey.

But Lama Fakih, an adviser to Amnesty, said the Kurds’ treatment of civilians amounted to collective punishment.

She said: “In its fight against Isis, the [Kurdish administration] appears to be trampling all over the rights of civilians who are caught in the middle.”

Amnesty called on Kurdish officials to end such abuses, compensate families for their losses and hold those responsible to account.