Syrian Kurds Backed by U.S. Accused of War Crimes

A report released by Amnesty International on Monday reveals that Kurdish militants in northern Syria, among the most successful U.S. partners on the ground in the fight against the self-proclaimed Islamic State group, may have committed war crimes, the Washington Post reports.

Amnesty’s report claims it has found evidence of a campaign of displacement and home demolitions targeting the area’s local Arab population. It contends that the local Kurdish armed group known as the People’s Protection Units (YPG) have forced non-Kurdish citizens from their homes in northern Syrian supposedly on orders from the Democratic Union Party (PYD), a Kurdish political body that has held effective control of northern Syria’s “Autonomous Administration” since January 2014.

“By deliberately demolishing civilian homes, in some cases razing and burning entire villages, displacing their inhabitants with no justifiable military grounds, the Autonomous Administration is abusing its authority and brazenly flouting international law, in attacks that amount to war crimes,” Lama Fakih, a senior crisis adviser with Amnesty, said in a statement.

Nusra Front Calls for Attacks on Syria’s Alawites

The head of al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria urged militants on Monday to intensify attacks on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect in reprisal for what he deemed to be the indiscriminate killing of Sunni Muslims by the Russian airstrikes, Reuters reports.

The audio message recorded and uploaded to YouTube by Nusra Front leader Abu Mohammad al-Golani said Moscow’s military intervention was aimed at saving the Assad government from collapse.

“There is no choice but to escalate the battle and to target Alawite towns and villages in Latakia and I call on all factions to … hit their villages daily with hundreds of missiles as they do to Sunni cities and villages,” Golani said.

Golani also said that Russia’s air campaign had left Islamic State jihadists relatively untouched, instead hitting mostly opposition areas controlled by groups like the Jaish al-Fateh (the Army of Conquest) and other rebel militias actively battling against the Syrian army.

E.U. Calls on Russia to Stop Bombing in Syria

The European Union called on Russia Monday to end its campaign of airstrikes in Syria but the 28 member states failed to reach an agreement as to the role Bashar al-Assad should play in a political solution to the conflict, Reuters reports.

In a united front against Russia’s escalating military intervention in the war-torn country, E.U. foreign ministers cautioned that airstrikes intended to bolster Assad could in fact prolong the four-and-a-half-year civil war that has killed nearly 250,000 people.

“The military escalation risks prolonging the conflict, undermining a political process, aggravating the humanitarian situation and increasing radicalization,” the ministers said, shortly after their meeting in Luxembourg.

They also moved to pressure Assad by agreeing to widen the E.U.’s economic sanctions in Syria to people benefiting from the beleaguered leader’s government, although no new names have yet been added to the E.U.’s list.

Top Image: In this photo taken on Sunday October 11, 2015, Syrian soldiers wave Syrian flags, celebrating the capture of the town of Achan in Hama province, Syria. Russian jets intensified their airstrikes Monday in the central Syrian province as government and allied troops pushed out insurgents from local villages to expand their control of the area, activists and a military statement said. (Alexander Kots/Komsomolskaya Pravda via AP)

Recommended Reads

• The New York Times: U.S.-Made Weaponry Is Turning Syrian Conflict Into Proxy War With Russia
• The Washington Post: Did U.S. Weapons Supplied to Syrian Rebels Draw Russia into the Conflict?
• BBC: Should There Be a No-Fly Zone Over Syria?
• The Guardian: British Military Intervention in Syria Will Solve Nothing
• Al-Monitor: Russia’s Syria Strikes Hold Both Strategic and Symbolic Importance