00:00A look at the situation in the north of Syria. A ceasefire is in place between
00:05the Syrian government and Kurdish soldiers, this after the...
00:10Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces lost huge swathes of territory to the government.
00:15A significant victory then for Damascus and for the president, Ahmed Al-Sharah, who is trying...
00:20to consolidate Syrian territory and unify the army. Civilians, though, have...
00:25have been caught in the crossfire. With me now is France 24's Wasim Nasser.
00:30Something of an expert in Syria who spent quite a bit of time there since the fall of Bashar al-Assad.
00:35So, Wasim, first of all, what is the latest at the start of this week? Is that...
00:40ceasefire that I mentioned between chiefly Kurdish groups and the government holding?
00:45Well, actually, the ceasefire is mostly holding. We're gonna look at the map to see where are the...
00:50the front lines now, as we speak. And actually, with the Kurdish...
00:55the Kurdish forces still have two pockets near Ain al-Arab Kobani that we're gonna see in yellow...
01:00and also the area of Hasaki. So, we have to note that in both...
01:05areas they have some particular... particularities. For Kobani, for example, the army is...
01:10on the front line, but the Ministry of Interior is just behind because they deployed...
01:15security... security... security forces in order to prevent civilians from...
01:20reaching the front lines. We have footage of that since the early... since like 48 hours...
01:25why do they... they want to prevent civilians from reaching the front lines because...
01:28in this area, there's a lot of...
01:30turmoil since the beginning of the war. We know, for example, that the villages of Ash-Shuyukh...
01:35the inhabitants, the Arab inhabitants, were kicked out by Kurdish forces 10 years ago.
01:40So, actually, the security team of Aleppo, because this area depends from Aleppo...
01:44we're gonna see them...
01:45on a picture...
01:46are working on stabilizing the region and reaching out to...
01:50Kurdish leaders and to Arab leaders in order to keep the situation calm and prevent...
01:55that as here we see the head of the security in Aleppo and the head of the security in Kobani...
02:00the Arab and we see them here while they were negotiating in Tabqa...
02:03with the head of the YPG in Aleppo...
02:05in Aleppo town...
02:06he had Aleppo...
02:07and then he had Dar-Hafir...
02:08and today...
02:09Tsipan-Hapo in military...
02:10attire here...
02:11his handling actually...
02:12Kobani...
02:13so the situation is still very...
02:15fragile...
02:16it's the same in the area of Hasakah...
02:17there's exchange of fire...
02:18civilians being killed also...
02:20because the YPG is trying to make a void around Hasakah in Arab villages...
02:25because...
02:26Arabs there...
02:27actually...
02:28put up arms...
02:29against the YPG...
02:30so they are trying...
02:30to still hold the little of...
02:32territory...
02:33that they still...
02:34control as we speak...
02:35and in the map that we were looking at a minute ago...
02:37at West Sea...
02:38we saw these huge swathes of terrorists...
02:40territory...
02:41that are now controlled by those government forces...
02:42even though for years they were actually controlled by the...
02:45by the SDF...
02:46by that Kurdish-led group...
02:47how...
02:48are the government troops managing now...
02:50to secure that area?
02:51Well actually...
02:52as we said...
02:53last week...
02:54it's inhabited...
02:55the residents...
02:56who turned there...
02:57who switched sides actually...
02:58and so as you say...
02:59the area is huge...
03:00and so they are...
03:00sending envoys...
03:01among those envoys...
03:02the...
03:03the advisor of the Syrian...
03:05the Syrian president...
03:06on tribal issues...
03:07Jihad Issa Shaykh...
03:08who's being sent there...
03:09actually...
03:10in order...
03:11not to control the area...
03:12or not to control the clan...
03:13we have footage of him...
03:14reaching...
03:15to Raqqa...
03:16it's actually...
03:17in order to...
03:18convince...
03:19local...
03:20tribes...
03:21not to go into...
03:22vantettas...
03:23against each other...
03:24you know...
03:25because they're...
03:25some people were...
03:26Assad...
03:27some people were...
03:28democratic forces...
03:29some people were...
03:30the Islamic...
03:30state rights...
03:31and some people are...
03:32going back today...
03:33from their...
03:34displacement...
03:35in...
03:36it...
03:35with all the anger that it could provoke this situation.
03:40And we saw, for example, that they are making regulations also.
03:44It started...
03:45This morning, meaning those who are in the ranks of the Syrian Democratic Forces are being...
03:50Regularized, meaning they have the right to go home.
03:53So they are trying to make a difference between...
03:55...between those people who were recruited, between the communist youth, if I may say.
04:00So, of the APG and of PKK core hardline fighters.
04:05And also, we are going to see footage of the conscription which started, actually.
04:10They started recruiting people in order to control the area.
04:14And you'll see here and there is...
04:15How people are very eager, actually, to get into military...
04:20...and security forces ranks.
04:21So this is the manpower which is going to handle the situation in Eastern...
04:25...and see here.
04:26Okay.
04:27One of the most contentious aspects of this and something...
04:30...that Western governments have been quite concerned about...
04:32...is these prisons that are in this area that...
04:35...are holding ISIS fighters among other individuals.
04:39Tell us about...
04:40...who's controlling these prisons now...
04:42...and what is happening to those...
04:45...ISIS fighters who are being held there?
04:47Maybe if we can see the map again, we can see where those...
04:50...presents actually are.
04:51So actually, two main prisons that we see here...
04:55...in the green area, meaning the Shaddadi prison...
04:57...and a whole camp were taken...
05:00...backed by Syrian forces and also the Raqqa prison...
05:04...still in the...
05:05...in the hands of the...
05:06...EPG or the...
05:07...Sino-Democratic forces.
05:08They have a Roche camp and another prison...
05:10...facility in Hasaka town and next to Kamashli.
05:13And now we have to see footage of Shaddadi.
05:15Actually, in Shaddadi, the...
05:16...Sino-Democratic forces left the prison...
05:18...and there was like a vacuum.
05:20...of power in between and prisons were freed...
05:23...and were roaming on the roads.
05:24And those are...
05:25...of real Islamic State fighters that escaped this prison.
05:29We are talking about...
05:30...150 people who escaped, 90 were caught back...
05:33...and here we see civilians that...
05:35...actually fed them on the road...
05:37...before handing them to the army.
05:39And if we talk about...
05:40...maybe Al-Hol...
05:41...and Al-Hol...
05:42...a few families escaped...
05:43...because there was also a...
05:44...
05:45...two hours void...
05:46...because Syrian Democratic forces left...
05:47...and the time that the Syrian government arrives...
05:50...a few escapes happened.
05:51It's actually a very difficult issue to tackle...
05:53...for Damascus because...
05:55...because they cannot freed people...
05:56...but they have to convince them to stay...
05:58...in order to fetch them.
06:00...each one by one actually.
06:02And if you look at the footage that we got...
06:04...in Al-Qatar...
06:05...in Al-Qatar prison in Raqqa...
06:06...we see that yesterday...
06:07...126...
06:08...uh...
06:09...uh...
06:10...under-age boys...
06:12...were liberated...
06:13...and we know that...
06:14...they are not...
06:15...all imprisoned for terrorism charges...
06:17...some of them were just for supporting...
06:19...uh...
06:20...some of them for pity crime...
06:22...some of them for family issues...
06:23...and actually they got freed...
06:24...
06:25...yesterday...
06:26...knowing that...
06:27...we still have...
06:28...more than 3,000...
06:29...people imprisoned in this...
06:30...and...
06:31...the same...
06:32...Damasqua is convincing...
06:33...the families...
06:34...that they should...
06:35...should...
06:35...fetch each and...
06:36...everyone...
06:37...and one more thing...
06:38...we all know...
06:39...in what...
06:40...what were the conditions...
06:41...in those prisons...
06:42...really...
06:43...very...
06:44...uh...
06:45...difficult...
06:45...conditions...
06:46...so it's a big issue...
06:47...for Damascus...
06:48...a member of the coalition...
06:49...to keep real...
06:50...islamic state fighters...
06:51...in...
06:52...and to facilitate...
06:53...their transfer to Iraq...
06:54...which is actually...
06:55...happening...
06:56...and make a difference...
06:57...between those who were...
06:58...not supposed to be here...
06:59...and Islamic...
07:00...state fighters action...
07:01...okay...
07:02...alright...
07:03...a really important story...
07:04...thank you very much...
07:05...we'll see you...
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